Doorways
by Ms. Chaos
Summary: They didn't mention anything about aliens or Torchwood in the vacation brochure... Set after "Exit Wounds"
1. Ghosts on Film

**Author's Note: **_Well. This is me. And my very first TW fic. And you can probably smell the fear wafting through your computer screen as you sit there and read this. :P But I hope that you will entertained by it._

_This story takes place after Exit Wounds but before the Doctor Who season 4 finale. And if you wanna get real technical, I guess you can say it also takes place after the radio drama "Lost Souls"._

_Also, Mucho thanks to Meef from .uk. for helping me. And to Tylluan(a.k.a. Nightowl from .uk.) for being my beta! :D_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Torchwood. If I did, season 3 would've been here A LOT sooner. :D_

* * *

The picture was out of focus.

All she could see through the lens of her Nikon camera is a big, blurry thing until a few twists of her fingers the image became much more crystal clear. It became a huge, glistening Water Tower in Roald Dahl Plass, shining brightly in the late morning sun in the city of Cardiff. With a push of a button, the camera whirr to life, clicking softly, capturing the moment forever.

Abigail Trudeau felt a yawn rising up and quickly raised her hand to her mouth to smother it, letting her camera fall and dangle from her neck.

She still hadn't quite adapted to the time change even though she had been in the U.K. for a couple of days. Her body was still stuck in Western Pacific time. The sudden change from being eight hours behind to eight hours ahead can mess with anyone's sleeping pattern.

She blinked back the light tears from her hazel eyes caused by her yawn and glanced down at her camera. She tucked back her long, dark brown hair behind her ear as the cold wind picked up, causing it blow right into her face.

She clicked back to the previous images that were saved on her camera with a slight frown on her face. Each frame was of the Water Tower taken from every angle a few yards away, all the way around it. She shook her head in confusion. Nothing.

Her cell phone suddenly chirped and quickly pulled it out from her pocket. A quick look at the caller i.d. let her know that it was the call she was expecting.

"Dave?"

_"Yeah, Abby. What's up? How's your trip?"_

Dave was a roommate and a life-long friend that Abby knew since they were teenagers and was also, a video and camera expert, knowing all the tricks of the trade.

"Its going great. Listen, did you get my package?" Abby asked, quickly cutting to the chase. She paced aimlessly around the Plass. He had better gotten it, she paid extra money for the express delivery.

_"Yes, I did. Here, I was expecting a memory card filled with pictures of tasty looking European women as a souvenir but instead, you sent me pictures of a friggin' big shiny tower. Beautifully taken, I might add."_

Dave sat front of his computer with Abby's pictures already on his screen. It was past midnight for Dave but like any other computer geek, it was still too early for bed.

"Well, I figured that you probably had enough porn stashed into your hard drive that could you last ten lifetimes. " Abby said dryly.

_"Abby. You can never have too much porn."_ Dave chided.

" Anyway." Abby drawled out. " What do you think? There's some type of glitch on my memory card?"

David sighed. _"I don't know. I went through every inch of the memory card very closely and its fine. There doesn't seem to be anything that could explain the sudden appearance of those two people."_

Abby had only arrived just a few hours in Cardiff, eager and ready to snap some photos during her trip. Her first stop was the Roald Dahl Plass, her attention already on the Water Tower and the Millennium Centre.

She wasted no time putting her camera to use. She was studying photography back home at UCLA and hoped one day to have a wonderful career as professional photographer.

It wasn't until she was back at her hotel room, going through her photos on her laptop that she noticed something very unusual and required the aid of her most trusted computer nerd.

_"They could've walked into the frame as you were taking the picture. That happened to me a couple of times when I was in San Francisco. Ever thought about that?"_ Dave said.

" No, I don't think so. My camera takes 2.5 frames per second. 2 frames per second, Dave. Unless, they're Seigfried and Roy in disguise, they would've been in the other frames before."

_"They could be ghosts."_ Dave mumbled.

Abby stopped. "What?"

_"Yeah, ghosts!"_ Dave exclaimed. _"Now that I think about it, that guy in the photo does look like he's wearing a military coat."_

Dave's excitement grew by the second. He zoomed in on the man on his computer.

Abby could hear him typing furiously at his keyboard through her phone.

_"Yep. A RAF Military Greatcoat from World War Two, to be exact."_

"How do you know that?"

_"You don't spend hours playing 'Medal of Honor' without learning a little something, something."_

Abby snorted a laugh. Leave to Dave to educate himself from a video game.

"Well, aren't ghosts kinda see through-ish?"

_"Oh, dude! Maybe you got a full body apparition!"_ Dave practically jumped from his chair.

"A what?"

_" A full body apparition of a ghost!"_ Dave repeated, " _Oh, man! People claimed to have seen full apparitions but never really got one on camera. The most people got was big, floaty looking orbs but its not much proof because its most likely dust or bugs caught in the camera's flash."_

A disgusted sigh escaped from Abby's lips. "You have GOT to stop watching 'Ghost Hunters' Dave." '_And stop hitting the large Red Bull so late at night.'_

_"Well, you wanted to know what I think."_

"Yeah, I was expecting a sane, logical answer but I obviously had a brain fart and forgot who I was asking."

_"Oh, that hurts."_ Dave said, feigning sadness in his voice. _"But I'm gonna let that slide because I know that you love me and that is your way of saying 'Thank you, David for doing this favor that I asked of you and for staying up all night, going through my memory card. "_

"You're up late anyway. I just gave you something productive to do."

_"Well next time, just give me something to do that requires the use of brain cells."_

Abby made a scoffing noise, "I thought you had burnt off a few billion from the amount of computer time you log in. "

_"Remind me again why we're roommates or friends, for that matter?"_

"Because I am an awesome cook and your mother refused to do your laundry anymore. "

Dave snapped his fingers. _"Ah! That's it."_

"I gotta go. Talk to you later." Abby giggled.

_"Alright. Talk to you soon. Bye."_

"Bye." Abby snapped her phone shut and gazed back at the immense tower behind her.

Her eyes skimmed the glittering structure from top to bottom. Her gaze lingered for a moment at the spot where she saw the two people, a women with dark hair and a man in a grey coat that suddenly appeared out of nowhere from the photos.

She remembered a couple of nights ago as she sat in front of her laptop, going over her pictures of the Plass.

Her finger glided over the touch pad of her computer, clicking back and forth to one frame to the next. She studied both photos very carefully and was at a loss on how those people got there. In one frame, the man in the red jacket walking past the tower was alone and literally the next second, two people were standing next to him.

She shook this unusual situation from her mind and quickly decided not to let it bother her and take up the rest of her trip as weird and interesting as it may be.

The wind coming in from the Bay picked up once again and Abby shivered at the cold. Shrugging her jacket closer to her and taking one last look at the Tower, Abby turned and walked away. On to the next tourist destination.

She vaguely remembered someone telling her that the Tourtist Centre was in this direction.

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_TBC_

_Review, please? And be gentle. Its my first time. ;)_


	2. The Accidental Tourist

**Author's note: **_I had a tough time on this chapter. I had it outlined differently in the beginning but as I began to write it, it didn't flow right to me. I kept hitting the delete button so many times and sat there starting at the computer screen, thinking "Writer's block *already?!* Also, this cat that my niece is fostering for PetCo kept jumping on my lap and the keyboard and wouldn't leave me alone! *rolleyes*_

_Again, thanks to Tylluan for beta'ing and to Meef(you know why). ;)_

**Disclaimer:** _I own nothing of Torchwood because I'm not THAT lucky..._

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**Chapter 2: The Accidental Tourist**

"I can't believe I made a complete ass of myself in front of that guy." Abby fumed as she briskly walked out of the Tourist Center. She pulled her jacket tighter around her when she felt the cold sea breeze from the bay.

Abby had gone to the Tourist Center to buy some postcards and a map of the city. The entrance seemed hidden and it took her awhile to find it. She had asked three other people that passed by to be sure that she wasn't walking into something she wasn't allowed in.

The inside of the Tourist Center was small with a front desk and a beaded curtain doorway behind it to Abby's left. It looked like there was no one there when she walked in and thought for a moment that maybe she missed the closed sign**.**

She was about to turn around to leave when she heard the beaded curtain clack loudly as a tall man in a suit stepped out. He looked like a very nice guy and greeted Abby with a polite smile. If Abby's mother had been there with her no doubt she would try to set her up on a date with this guy. Abby inwardly cringed at mere thought of embarrassment of that situation.

After fumbling with the currency and with a little help from the nice guy, Abby paid for her map and postcards as she made small talk and asked about the Water Tower.... with the possibility of it being haunted.

As soon as the question left her mouth, Abby instantly regretted it. She watched as the guy raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked. Its not every day you get asked if a historical landmark was haunted by ghosts.

Abby could have sworn her face turned two shades of red in under a minute. She hesitated to continue at first but since the question was asked might as well keep going. She went on to explain what she found on her pictures and Dave's theory of it being ghosts. Actually hearing it out loud in a small tourist shop between two people sounded completely ridiculous to Abby's ears. Good chance that the guy behind the counter was thinking the same thing.

Abby thought she noticed something of a panic in the guy's blue eyes when she brought up the man in the World War Two coat but had quickly vanished as a wall build up behind them.

"So, you say you captured this on film?"

"Yeah, well, on my camera's memory card... which I don't have with me." Abby realized. Talking crazy with no proof. "But I just thought I'd ask because it's the damndest thing. One minute they're not there and the next. Poof! There they are!" Abby began to ramble.

The nice guy stood there quietly with a blank expression.

"I mean, you would think that as photographer, you'd noticed things like this first thing. Well, I'm not photographer yet. I'm studying to be. I hope to be someday. That's sort of why I'm here, taking pictures for my portfolio which is what... a photographer...does. " Abby shifted her feet nervously. This was getting awkward.

"You know what? Forget I said anything. It's probably nothing. Just a weird thing with my camera. So let's just say that I came here, bought some things and pretend that the whole ghost conversation never happened, okay? So, I'm just gonna... yeah. "

Abby grabbed what she purchased and left. Leaving as fast as she could. The nice guy behind the counter watched her leave with slight look of amusement on his face.

_"Real smooth, Abby."_

-------------

It was happening so quick. So fast, it was hard to make anything out. Like riding a speeding roller coaster. It was almost nauseating.

Images, voices, words ran amok. All blurred and swirling together like colors mixed in a glass of water.

She felt rough hands digging deep, ripping.

_"... perfect doorway..."_

_"Make it stop!"_

_"It feeds..."_

She felt pain.

_"Who are you?"_

_"... only gonna get worse...." _

She was in a cellar. Cold and dank.

_".... the only one... "_

_"... so loud..."_

Dirty rock walls beneath her hands.

_"Torchwood..." _

_".... help you through this..."_

She felt blood.

_"It's different with you..."_

_"... opened a doorway..."_

She heard voices, whispering.

_"Something's coming...."_

A man laid on the ground. Vacant eyes staring up. Dead.

_"I'm begging you to shoot me!"_

_"... calm before the storm..."_

_"... watched you die...."_

The voices and images overlapped each other as it build and build into a crescendo until there was silence and darkness.

One clear voice broke through.

_DANGER!_

Abby awoke with a start. A loud gasp escaped from her throat. She sat up ram rod straight, gulping down air as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes darted around, seeking out the danger. Panic and confusion etched on her face.

"Can you hear me?" A muffled voice came through. A blurred face hovered over her as gentle but firm hands held her steady. She felt like she was underwater. Everything was dull and fuzzy.

"You need to calm down and breathe." the voice was telling her. She was breathing, wasn't she? She felt something hard being placed over her face, covering her mouth. A cool hiss of air passed through her lightly blue lips.

"Breathe in. That's it." the voice encouraged.

Abby breathed in deep, letting the soothing air fill her lungs. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and her vision slowly came into focus. The blurred face molded into the features of a man with glasses and kind eyes wearing a white coat**.** The soft beeping of a heart monitor and the smell of rubber gloves and disinfectant came to Abby's senses as it brought on word to her mind. Hospital.

Hospital? Why was she in a hospital? She didn't remember getting hurt.

"Can you tell me your name?" The doctor's voice was no longer muffled but clear. He repeated the question and Abby slowly nodded her head yes, dazedly. The breathing mask was removed and she croaked out her name. The doctor seemed satisfied.

"Do you know where you are?" The accent in the doctor's voice told Abby she was still in the U.K.

"Cardiff." She quietly rasped. " What... ?"

"I'm Dr. Landis. You were attacked and found in an alleyway near a pub. Do you remember who was it that attacked you?"

Attacked? Abby shook her head no.

Dr. Landis reached over and began gently prodding Abby's forehead. She winced as the doctor touched a very tender spot. She heard him mumble an apology.

"You've got a nasty laceration on your head but we've managed to stitch it up."

Abby watched as he pulled out a penlight from his breast pocket and shined it in her eyes. She recoiled back.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

Abby frowned. "I don't..."

The last thing she remembered was the Millennium Center. The Water Tower. Buying somethings at the Tourist Center. After that...

A white flash and pain erupted from behind Abby's eyes. Her hands reached up to clutch her head as she moaned softly in pain. Her fingers lightly brushed against the bumpy thread of stitches.

"All right. Take it easy. It might be awhile for it comes back to you."

Abby's eyes took noticed of an i.v. inserted into her right hand, connected to a pole next to her bed. A bag of clear liquid dripped slowly. She looked down and saw she was dressed in a hospital gown, tucked in bed very comfortably. She looked very settled in.

"How long have I been here?" she asked.

The doctor sighed. "Nearly two days."

Abby's mouth gaped at the doctor. Two days?!

"I'd like to run some tests. To check to see if there hasn't been any damage..." The doctor's voice faded away into the background. Abby stopped listening. She's been unconscious for two days and she couldn't remember a damn thing how that happened. She felt hurt. The pounding in her head suggested that but there was something else. Something felt different. It was almost as if she was a little disconnected with everything. She was here but not here. She was on edge and everything buzzed around her.

She shook herself away from her thoughts when she realized the doctor was trying to get her attention.

"Huh?" she responded somewhat unintelligently.

"I said a nurse will be by to take you for a CT scan and in the meantime, we'll give you some painkillers for your head." he smiled.

Abby nodded absently as the doctor left the room, stopping at the door as he spoke to a short blonde haired nurse.

She shrugged off the blanket and carefully stood upon shaky legs. Her hand wrapped around the cold metal i.v. pole and pulled it alongside her, squeaking as she dragged herself to the bathroom.

The bathroom light switched on with a bright shock and Abby instantly squinted her eyes against the harsh light. The pain in her head flared up but soon went down. She gazed at herself in the reflection of the mirror, taking in her appearance. The stitched up gash was covered with purple and yellow bruise above her right eye. It stood out against her somewhat pale skin. Her eyes had dark circles underneath them and her long hair was in tangles. Yeah. She looked like crap.

Sighing loudly, she turned on the cold tap, scooping a small handful and splashed her face. The cool water helped somewhat to relieve the ache behind her eyes.

Abby's ears faintly picked up on the conversation with the doctor outside. She turned off the faucet and walked quietly to the door, peaking out through the small opening.

"Also, give 10cc's of morphine to room 103 and schedule her for a CT and MRI."

The nurse nodded, "Yes, doctor."

"Oh. Also, call this number." Dr. Landis pulled out a small sheet of paper and handed it to the nurse. "Notify them that the girl they're waiting for is awake and somewhat alert. They want to speak with her right away."

The nurse furrowed her brow in confusion as she glanced at the paper.

"What's Torchwood?"

Abby's heart began to pound. Torchwood. That name suddenly gave her away to fear. Why is she afraid of that name?

"From what I hear, a bloody pain in the police department's side." The doctor chuckled. "They investigate special cases and like to take over crime scenes much to their chagrin."

"I heard they catch aliens. " One dark haired nurse spoke up as she walked passed.

"Don't be ridiculous." Dr. Landis said.

"I'm serious. After what's happened in this city. I'm more opened minded to whatever comes through our doors."

"I've lived here all my life and I haven't seen anything strange." said the blonde nurse.

The dark haired nurse gently patted the other nurse's hand. "That's because you live in a bubble, dear." she patronized.

Abby closed the door shut. Her breathing once again picked up and began to tremble in fear.

"Come on, Abby. Pull yourself together. Don't freak out." She breathed.

She didn't know why but everything in her gut was telling her she was in danger and she had to leave. Leave now before they came. The primal instinct of fight or flight. Right now, it was set on flight.

* * *

_Honestly. The cat could have written a better chapter, right?_

_And I promise, Torchwood 3 team will be coming up soon! :D_


	3. We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto

**Author's Note: **_This chapter was a pain in the ass for me to write. I tried to beat it into submission but like everyone else, it scoffed in my face and didn't take me seriously. It then took pity on me and my useless attempt to be the Lord and Master of this world that I'm playing in so, it finally laid down and humbled at my feet... for now. :P _

_I did ask my niece's cat to help write this chapter but he said that he was too busy napping around my home and annoying the hell out of my dog, Star. _

_Just a reminder. This fic takes place after Torchwood's _"Exit Wounds"_ but before Doctor Who's _"The Stolen Earth" _and _"Journey's End" _. _

_Mucho thanks to Tylluan for beta'ing and for reading my whining babble of how much I suck at writing this fic. I wish you many happy, fat grandchildren, Tylluan. ;)_

_

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_

_**Chapter 3: We're Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto**_

Abby wrenched herself away from the door and began to silently pace around the room in search of her shoes and clothes.

She found them in a plastic bag hidden underneath the bed and sighed in relief when she saw that they were still intact rather than cut like they usually do when they bring someone in through emergency. She didn't know what she would have done if she had to leave in a hospital gown with her ass hanging out.

She over turned her bag, dumping all her things onto the bed. First thing's first though. She looked down at her right hand eyeing the IV needle embedded in her vein. She shuddered. It was going to hurt like hell but there was no way she could leave the hospital with an IV pole trailing behind her. It would look kind of suspicious.

She disconnected the tube and peeled off the tape that kept the needle in place. Her mouth opened in a silent cry as she slowly pulled out the needle. A burning sting traveled across her hand. A small trickle of blood flowed out and cascaded down her knuckles. She pressed a small piece of gauze that she found in a jar somewhere in her room over her hand, stopping the blood. She continued to get dressed, slipping on her jeans under her hospital gown. Her head still ached somewhat. The pain was already fading away as she shrugged on her t-shirt.

Abby's head jerked up in surprise at the sound of people talking behind her door. Her heart pounded like a reverberated drum. Shadows of someone's feet poked through the bottom of the door. Abby froze while in midway through tying her right shoe. She waited with bated breath for the door to wrench wide open and Torchwood to come strolling in. They couldn't have come here that fast, could they? Abby's eyes never left the bottom of the door. She let out the breath that she had been holding when the shadowy feet disappeared from view.

Giving her shoelace knot a finally tug, she grabbed her purse and headed for the door. She took one quick look at her cell phone and sighed. Battery dead.

Abby, very carefully, opened her door and poked her head out. It was quiet, saved for the occasional murmuring of people visiting and meandering around and the machines hissing and beeping. The nurses looked too busy doing their work to hardly pay any attention to what was going on around them. Abby saw this was great chance and discreetly slipped out, walking ever so carefully to be invisible to the open hallway.

--------------

Nurse Price let out a jaw-crunching yawn and did her best to cover it with her small, slender hand. She sighed loudly and bent her neck around to relieve the tension of her tired muscles. She felt dead tired and her feet ached something fierce. Nothing like soak a in a hot bath with a nice glass of wine couldn't cure. A small smile appeared at the corners of her mouth at the thought of that plan. She looked at her watch. Just a few hours left.

The floor was quiet and slow for once which gave Nurse Price a chance to sit down to go over her patients charts and relax her sore feet. She repressed an other yawn that threaten to rise up when a voice above her spoke up.

"Hello, excuse me?" Nurse Price looked up to find a woman with long dark hair and grey eyes standing in front of her. She flashed a tired smile.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm Gwen Copper. Torchwood. Someone called about the young girl who has woken up."

'Oh, right. She's in room 103." Nurse Price said, pulling out Abby's chart. "Its just right across over there."

"Thank you. " Gwen smiled.

Gwen walked up to the door of room 103 and knocked softly. "Hello?"

She entered and tenatively stuck her head in. The was room was very quiet and the bed covers was dishivelled. It also had one thing missing- the patient.

Frowning, Gwen went over to the bathroom noticing the door was ajar. She flicked on the light switch. Also empty. She turned to find Nurse Price standing in the doorway.

"She's not here, " Gwen announced.

"Oh, um...." Nurse Price looked down at Abby's chart in her hand. "It says here that she's been scheduled for a CT and MRI. George. Is the patient in this room still in CT? " She asked when an orderly walked up.

"No. I just got here to take her to CT." George the orderly said.

"Then where is she?"

Gwen's experienced eyes caught something over by the bed. She walked over and crouched down for a closer inspection. It was a scatter of small circluar red dots. Blood. She looked over to see the IV pole standing only a foot away, the clear saline solution pooled around the needle.

"Shit." she cursed softly. She quickly got up.

She stormed past the nurse and orderly ignoring their curious questions. She pressed the com in her ear, speaking at a level tone to the voice that spoke up.

"Jack, we got a problem."

---------

The black taxi pulled up in front of the Sandring Hotel with a light jerk. Abby already had the money out and told the driver to keep the change as she practically thrust the bills in his face. She wasn't really sure if it was the right amount nor did she care. She quickly jogged into the lobby, right past the two stairways and headed straight for the elevators.

She entered her room with a quick slam to the door behind her. She pulled out her dead phone from her pocket and connected it to the charger.

She was going a mile a minute. She never stopped once to calm down and think. She was still on the fight or flight mode. Her was mind unable to go further than "Get things" and "Run."

Abby dumped all her clothes and things from the hotel drawers and quickly started stuffing them into her suitcase. Wrinkled clothes be damned. No time for folding.

She picked up her cell phone murmuring a thank you that its already half way charged. She pushed the speed dial for Dave's cell, angling the phone on her shoulder to prop against her ear as she continued to pack.

_"Hello?" _Dave's voice came through the line.

"Dave! It's me, Abby. I need your help."

_"Hello?"_ Dave sounded annoyed.

"Dave? Hello? Can you hear me?" She looked down at her phone. It should be working fine.

_"Hello? Can you speak up, please?" _

"David! It's Abby. I need your help! Something's weird is going-" She shouted when she suddenly was interrupted.

_"Hahaha! Just kidding! Leave your message at the beep. "_

Abby's vision faded into red. "Son of a..." she growled. She felt like throwing her damn phone against the wall just to hear that satisfiying crunch of plastic but that would leave her without a phone and pushed down that urge. She was about to leave a very ticked off message when she felt her stomach twist into a knot. She flipped her phone shut. "They're coming." Don't ask how she knew. She just did.

The hairs in the back of Abby's neck stood on end like she was being watched. She looked out her window as a black SUV pulled up to the front and watched as two people climbed out.

All her senses came alive, almost knocking to her knees. She felt both of them enter the lobby, stopping for a moment to speak with the front desk. She could picture each step as one took the stairs and the other hopped on the elevator. She could see the doors closing shut. With each passing floor the elevator was drawing closer and closer to Abby. What the hell was going on?

Abby abandoned her suitcase and stuffed whatever clothes that were left into her backpack. She grabbed her hoodie jacket off from a near by chair. Zipping herself up she pulled out her other wallet with some extra money from a hidden compartment in her suitcase, not even bothering to count how much money she had. There was no time.

She slung her backpack over her shoulders and snatched her phone up on the way out.

She opened the door just a tiny crack, her hazel eye only peering out for any suspected danger. Satisfied that the coast was clear, she stepped out and closed the door behind and waited by the elevator doors.

Abby pressed the down button furiously, urging it to quickly open. She glanced over to the stairs down the hallway to her right. Her feelings picked up the hurried footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked over to the other elevator to her left and watched as each numbers above the doors lit up, getting closer and closer to her.

The overwhelming sense of danger was suffocating as if the entire floor was covered in black fire smoke. ' I gotta get out of here. I gotta get out of here. NOW!'

Abby snapped her head around when she heard the soft ding of the elevator door opening. She all but ran inside and once again her finger punched the close door button frantically. It sure was taking it sweet time.

Abby pulled in quick and nervous breaths. One of them is on the floor. She heard the next door elevator ding quietly and the whoosh of the doors opening. Abby flatten herself against the cold walls and watched as a tall dark haired man in a grey coat walk right up to her hotel room door, pulling out a gun.

_"Please don't turn around. Please, don't turn around..." _

The man reached for the doorknob and gave it a twist. He peered inside with his gun leveled out. He took one look in and snapped his head around over towards Abby in the elevator. _'Shit!'_

They eyes locked for just a second but to Abby it seemed to take forever. She knows him. She had seen him before.

_She was in an alleyway. Someone holding her, gripping her head tightly. Pain shot out from everywhere. A loud strong voice ranged out. She felt warm blood on her hands. Blue eyes stared up vacant. Dead. Red splattered over the collar and front of his shirt and... grey coat._

He died. She was there. But there he stood in front of her.

Abby jolted herself awake as she saw him move towards her. She let out a panicked yelp and felt a dull ache pulse from behind her eyes. She watched in shock as the elevator doors slide quickly shut with a loud snap, closing way too fast than it normally would. The man jerked back, his surprised face disappearing from behind the heavy doors.

Abby leaned against the wall of the elevator for support. He legs felt like over cooked noodles and she felt like she was about to be sick. She took a breath. Held it and let it out slowly to calm down the tidal wave in her stomach. How did she do that? She made the doors shut like that, didn't she? She knew that they have arrived at the hotel for her. She_ felt _them coming. She had seen that man before and she knew deep in her gut that he had died right in front of her. So what the hell was he doing there looking for her?

The sense of danger was higher than ever. Right now was the time to get away and get back home to the states. Abby looked up at the floor numbers at the top and back down to the buttons beside the doors. A plan formed in her head.

Jack cursed softly at the doors and stared up at the numbers above the elevators to see which direction it was headed in. Once again his elusive target had slipped away from him. He tapped the com in his ear. "Ianto. She's heading downstairs. She knew we were coming."

Abby stopped at the closest floor to the lobby as she could get, turned around and pushed every button inside the elevator beside the door. The plastic numbers all lit up like a christmas tree. She smirked. "That'll keep them busy for a while." She jumped out and headed for the second set of stairs. Going around the mysterious Torchwood.

Slightly out of breath, Abby slowly climbed down as she reached for the bottom of the stairs and poked her head out to the lobby. Her eyes scanned around looking for anyone suspicious that might be looking for her. There were only a few people milling around and an elderly couple talking to the front desk. Satisfied that she was safe, Abby made a quick jog to the entrance and ran out to the streets of Cardiff.

She heard a voice behind her shout out "Stop!" but didn't dare to look back. She didn't have to. She knew they were shouting for her. She picked up the pace and ran faster down the street; stopping at the corner as another black taxi came driving up. She flagged it down with desperate hands waving and jumped right in.

"Go!" She yelled at the driver, out of breath. Abby looked back through the rear window watching whoever it was that chased her disappear from view as the taxi drove away.

"Should have gone to Cancun." she grumbled.

Ianto stood in the middle of the street bent over to catch his breath. Though he knew that there was no way he was able to get to the taxi, he was close enough to see the face of the young girl they were chasing through the back window and also the liscene plate number. He muttered it to himself over and over. He heard Jack jog up next him, also out of breath.

"Did you get the number?" Jack asked.

"Oh, yeah. I've got a mind like a steel trap." Ianto tapped the side of his head with a grin. He contacted Gwen through the ear com.

"Gwen. I need you to do a search for me back at the Hub."

-------------------------

Dave was sleeping mighty comfortably in bed. In fact, it was the best sleep he's ever had being an insomiac computer nerd. Endless nights of staring into the computer, hours of studying, doing homework and not to mention drinking uber caffinated drinks finally took a toll on his body and his good friend Stevie's party was just what he needed. That and a goodnight's sleep. Well, it was a goodnight sleep until a very irritating and very persistent noise from his cell phone chriped ungodly loud next to him on the bedside table. He scrunched his face into a grimace and attempted to bury himself into the pillow to escape the noise but the constant ringing was as stubborn as he was. His hand fumbled around in search for the source of his sleep disturbance and flipped it open, letting out a groggy 'Hello' into the receiver. He barely listened to the operator asking if he would accept the charges on the call and in his half asleep state he answered yes.

"I'm so kicking your ass for that stupid voicemail of yours!" Abby's voice growled into the phone.

_"Abby?"_

"No, it's the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz calling collect." She snapped. She forced a smile at someone who walked by looking at her curiously at her outburst.

_"Where have you been? I've been trying to call you. What happened? Dave asked fully awake. _

"A lot." Abby sighed, " I think I was attacked-"

_"What? Are you okay? Do you need me fly up there. I'll be on the first flight out..." _Dave exclaimed.

"Whoa, Dave. Shut up and listen to me for a minute. I'm fine. I don't need you to come over here. I'm staying at a hostel and using their payphone but I'm not staying for long. I'm out of here on the first flight out so I was wondering if you could wire me some money or something."

_"Yeah, sure. Of course. What happened, Abs?_

"I don't know. I don't remember. I remember I talked to you about those pictures, went to the Tourist Center for some souviners and the next thing I know, I woke up in a hospital two days later without a fricking clue. And there's these people called Torchwood who wanted to talk to me but I freaked and ran."

_"You ran?"_

"Yeah. Just got a bad feeling about them."

_"Well, who are they? What's Torchwood? Some kind of police?"_ Dave asked.

"Hell if I know. I heard the doctor at the hospital talk about them. He made it sound like they're the Men In Black or something. Only with accents."

_"All right. I'll see if I can transfer you some money. Just need to find my clothes."_

Abby sighed tiredly and closed her eyes. She could easily drop dead asleep right there by the phone. She was tired. All the adrenaline was wiped out from her. She could hear the quiet shuffling of Dave's search for his clothes through the phone. She can just see him scrounging around the room. It's always a huge mess in there.

Abby rolled her eyes."Your jeans are over by the dresser in between the desk."

There was a pregnant pause over the phone. _"How did you know that?"_ Dave asked.

"I've been in your room more than a thousand times, Dave. You throw shit everywhere. It's practically hanging off from the ceiling."

_"But I'm not at the apartment."_

"What?"

_"I stayed over at Stevie's place. He had a party. How did you know where my clothes would be?"_

Abby went stiff. The phone hovered over ear loosely. It happened again. How did she know that?

_"Abby, what's going on?"_ Dave asked, curiously.

"I'll call you back as soon as I can." Abby replied stiffly and hung up the phone before Dave could reply.

TBC

* * *

_My niece's cat is no longer with us. He went back to PetCo because my niece suddenly developed an allergy to his fur. Both her eyes became swollen and red. It was actually pretty hilarious considering the fact that she's been begging to her mom for a cat and was able to foster to one for awhile. :P_

_Thanks so much for the people who have reviewed. You guys realize that you made me addicted to reviews like crack, right? :P_

_And for those who haven't left a review but lurked around. Thanks for reading. :D _


	4. Typical Flashback Moment

**Author's Note: **_Sorry for the delay update. My brother and his family came down to visit on Easter Sunday and I was busy playing hostess for a couple of days. Also, my other brother(I have 2) is a complete computer hog. *glares at computer hogging brother*_

_Just a reminder. This takes place after "Exit Wounds" but before Doctor Who "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End". And I'm also an american and I have never been to Cardiff nor anywhere in the U.K. so Google is my new best friend. Also, watching Torchwood episodes helps a lot. _

_*Takes a breaht* Okay. I'm done. Now, git ter readin'! _

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 4: Typical Flashback Moment**

"I checked the CCTV footage, " Gwen's grey eyes studied the grainy blue video screen. Her voice echoed throughout the hidden, underground Hub. A painful reminder of how lonely the Hub had become these past couple of months.

"Looks like the driver dropped her off at a restaurant called 'Ellie's Cafe' over at James St." Gwen informed.

Ianto immediately took out his cell phone and started dialing as Jack drove.

" She went inside for a few a minutes and came back out. She waved for another taxi and took off. I can't get a clear enough image of the license plate number nor to where it was headed."

Jack chuckled, "She switched taxis on us. Pretty clever."

"Yes, thank you." Ianto flipped his phone shut. " I spoke with the manager of the cafe. He said that a young girl matching our description came in and asked for directions to the nearest hostel. He also said that she looked ill." Ianto looked at Jack pointedly.

"She's getting worse." Jack sighed. "What's the nearest hostel?"

"The Wanderer Youth Hostel at Howard Gardens. "

"All right, Gwen meet us there."

"On my way. Jack? " Gwen hesitated. "This girl has escaped us twice. Her abilities are growing. How do you propose to catch someone who is becoming psychic?"

Jack looked over Ianto. The same question was written on his face as well.

"So far, she's telekinetic and precognitive but if she's developed telepathy, we could all think one thing and actually do the opposite. If she isn't, we cover the exits and she can't get out." He looked at Ianto who didn't seem too convinced. "What, you have a better idea?"

---------------

Abby couldn't sit still.

She knew she should sit down and think but her mind wouldn't shut off. The phone call with Dave and the incident with the elevators back at the hotel were still going through her mind. Things were getting stranger by the second ever since she woke up at the hospital. A word kept flashing through her mind even though she tried vehemently to deny it. Psychic. She is psychic. She IS psychic and she knew it. She knew from the moment she had woken up at the hospital that something was different. That she was different. The how and the why seemed to be the only thing that was missing from this bizarre puzzle.

She paced back and forth between the hostel's bunkbeds. There was not many people staying at the hostel and there was only one person sleeping a few beds down from where Abby stood.

She looked over at the guy napping peacefully on the top bunk with envy. Abby felt tired herself even though she was in a two day coma, she felt like she had been awake that entire time. She wished she could stop and rest for a minute but it was as if her brain was unable to switch off. Everything around her hummed and droned on like the noise of a static television. Only now, it was becoming louder and clearer. It sounds like... whispers.

She had to get out. The empty bedroom felt too claustrophobic. Like it was crowded with people. She snatched up her bag from the bottom bunk bed next to her and headed out.

Abby zipped up her hoodie jacket as she stepped outside. She knew she was taking a risk of going out and possibly running into the people that were following her but hiding inside the bedrooms of the hostel felt too confining. She needed to get out and clear her mind and think of a plan to get out of the country. The Cardiff International Airport was the only airport and there is no doubt that they would have the place staked out. Maybe take a train to London and fly out of Heathrow? She would also have to try to call Dave as soon as she could once she thought of something to say after that weird conversation. No doubt Dave would be asking a hell of a lot of questions but Abby knew him so well, she would be able to direct his attention elsewhere.

Speaking of which, Abby's cell phone beeped abruptly, a text message from Dave letting her know that he made a money transfer to her account along with a huge captioned question; 'DUDE!! WHAT'S GOING ON???!!!' Abby quickly ignored the last text and sent back a thank you. She decided to make a quick stop at the next ATM machine she found.

Abby impatiently shifted her feet from side to side as she waited in line behind a man who was taking his time at the ATM. She exhaled in relief when the man was finally finished... and almost let out a sob of frustration when she realized that her account had unexpectedly been frozen as soon as she tried to make a withdrawal. Torchwood. Fucking Torchwood. She grumbled a small slew of curses under her breath and resisted the urge to punch at the words on the ATM screen _'Failed Transaction'_. but she was trying to keep a low profile. All she could do was glare hatefully at the machine when it suddenly began to smoke and fizzled with a loud pop. The screen went haywire and a slew of money came pouring out. She tried to stop the money in a pathetic attempt with her hands but soon a crowd started to form and excitedly helped themselves with the flowing money on the street. Abby came away with a handfuls of pounds and quickly ran away. So much for keeping a low profile.

Okay. That settled it. She was psychic. Oh god, that word. It felt strange to Abby to put herself and that word in the same sentence. She was psychic. She was Ms. Psychic-Hotline-Fricking-Cleo only without the tarot cards and the ugly outfits. Most people get souvenirs or hell, Montezuma's Revenge when they visit a country. Not psychic abilities.

Abby let out a tired sigh and rolled her head up as she walked down the street. She saw that she stood in front of a familiar looking pub. Very familiar looking. The huge neon sign, the shape of the pub's wooden doors. Abby's brow furrowed. She was here before. She spun around, her eyes zooming around everywhere. The street, the buildings, the noise of the area felt extremely familiar. She stopped and stared down the street to an opening of an alley way. She jogged straight for it, each step recognizable.

Abby stood in front of the alleyway. The daylight shone through all the way to the dead end brick wall. She slowly began to walk down the path, her right arm stretched out to the side of the coarse walls. Her fingers jumped over the cracks of the wall as they dragged against it. She unexpectedly stopped.

"It happened here." Abby said in a low voice. Her mind went back two days ago. Where it all began.

_Abby stood in front of a brightly lit neon sign of a local pub. Her camera poised to her eye and a series of clicking noises came from it. It was getting late and Abby had been walking practically the whole day but seeing the colorful sign when she walked by, Abby felt a moment of inspiration and couldn't resist to take a few more pictures. _

_It was a noise from behind her, a few feet down, that took her attention away from the pub. It sounded like someone was in pain. She couldn't help but to investigate it._

_Abby stared into the dark mouth of the alleyway. She heard the noise again. This time she called out._

_"Hello?" Her ears met with silence. She hesitated at first to enter but she went in further anyway just enough to run back out. This was starting to sound like the beginning of a horror movie._

_Abby called out once more and again, there was silence. Making up her mind that nothing was there, she turned to head back out of the alleyway when she ran into a tall man._

_To say that the guy was ugly was putting it mildly. It was as if he was wearing some kind of Halloween mask unless the guy really did looked like that. His eyes seemed to glow with a blue luminance in the night and dark greenish gray skin on his face looked like it was hanging from it. He barely had any hair and he towered over Abby with his 6'4" frame._

_Acting on instinct, Abby swung her heavy bag towards the man's head, aiming for his jaw but it was immediately captured in his strong grip. The man backhanded her. _

_Abby felt herself being thrown straight towards the side of the brick wall of the building. Her head collided with it and soon saw stars. She slumped to the ground, her eyes blinking rapidly as her vision began to blur. She felt something warm trickle down slowly from her head and she absently wiped it away, smudging it across her forehead._

_Heavy footsteps crunched against the concrete and approached to where Abby sat in bewilderment. She quickly tried to stand but her legs failed her and the world seemed to tilt for a second. She crawled away backwards from the man as he walked casually towards her. _

_Thin, icy cold hands wrapped tightly around Abby's face, startling her. Everything spun as the man yanked Abby to her feet. She snapped her eyes shut when she felt them roll wildly around in her head and felt her knees were about to buckle. She felt the man's rancid breath upon her face as she tried to struggle out of his grasp. Her eyes blinked opened, looking up at the man owlishly. _

_A cruel smile formed on the man's face and Abby fought even harder when she saw his face coming closer to her. His wet, sticky tongue dragged over the gash above her eye, licking up the blood that had dribbled out. Abby groaned in disgust and tried to jerk her head away which only made the pain on her head even worse. She heard the man let out a guttural sigh of pleasure, his head thrown slightly back._

_"You will do." His voice sounded horrible as if it hasn't been used in a long time. _

_Abby whimpered when she felt a sharp pain as the man's long fingers dug into both sides of her head. She couldn't help but cry out as the pain intensified, shooting down her body like eletricity but more so in her head. She felt something deep inside her mind being forced open. The faint noise of a voices raised in volume. Quick random images flashed behind her eyes. Abby's hands gripped feebly at the man's wrists._

_She heard a clear strong voice rang out from nowhere as somebody had came from behind the tall man, using all his strength to subdue him. Abby felt one of the tall man's hands let go of her face and forcefully grabbed her arm. _

_"Get out of here! Go!" the voice yelled but the grip on Abby's arm was too strong. She was thrown hard to the ground, dazed. The pain from her head was now a dull ache._

_Sounds of flesh hitting flesh and grunts of pain came to Abby's ears as she looked up to see the men fighting. The tall man and the other who came to Abby's rescue._

_The man who helped Abby, quickly punched the tall man, almost knocking him off his feet and was about to pull out a weapon until Abby saw the tall man swipe his hand across the man's neck without warning. She heard him let out a choked gasp as blood spurted out._

_Abby stared in shock and watched as the man sank to the ground, his hands reaching to his wound. The tall man snapped his head around back to Abby as if he suddenly remembered she was there with a chilling smile on his face._

_Abby felt her hand brush against the familiar shape of her camera and quickly picked it up. She snapped a few pictures with the flash on, blinding the tall man for a moment. It was enough time for her to get up and run but her legs turned to rubber and the dizziness hit Abby hard as did the ground below her._

_The tall man's eyes cleared up and quickly advanced towards Abby, his strange blue eyes glowing furiously. There was nowhere to go and the only thing Abby could do was cowardly curl up into a ball. She hid her face into her folded arms, not wanting this horrible looking man charging at her to be last thing that she saw before she died._

_Abby's head jerked up when the sounds of gunshots and a loud groan of pain broke out, but nothing was there. The tall man was gone. He simply vanished. Abby's thoughts went instantly to the man who tried to save her. She scrambled over to him where he lay._

_A pool of blood formed around his head from the neck wound first grabbed Abby's attention. He gasped weakly and his pale blue eyes stared up in pain and panic at the dark, night sky._

_Breathing heavily, Abby knelt down and placed her shaky hands over the wounds, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. But he had lost a lot of blood._

_'Oh, God. There's so much blood' Abby thought frantically to herself. "It's okay. It's going to be okay." Abby tried to reassure the man even though her voice cracked with fear gave the lie away. Abby panicked filled eyes darted around the alleyway for any kind of help. She was alone. _

_Abby glanced over at the man and her stomach dropped. She looked down and saw that he was no longer breathing. His eyes stared blankly off into space. She slowly took her hand off his neck. She couldn't believe it. She reached over and placed her bloody fingers inside of the man's left wrist, checking for a pulse beneath his leather wrist strap. She didn't find one. He was dead. He died saving her. A wound like that, he must have bled out in minutes. He didn't have a chance for the ambulance to arrive. _

_Abby sat stunned for a moment, unsure what to do next. She shivered in the deathly quiet alleyway. The pain in her head grew once again. She shook off the wave of dizziness coming over her. Someone must have heard those gunshots and called the police. She didn't know how to explain what happened here. She wasn't even sure herself. She felt alone and scared. She swallowed back a sob that threaten to come forth and took a quick look back at the man who died saving her. She slowly leaned over and reached out to close the man's eyes. She didn't want to see those eyes staring up at her when the police-_

_Abby jumped and let out a scream of fright when both hands from the dead man shot up to her shoulders. He gripped them as he inexplicably came back to life with a loud gasp and a groan of pain. He shut his eyes with a quiet grunt and breathed in deeply._

_Abby got out of his hold and scurried away from him, her eyes wide with shock._

_The man slowly sat himself up, out of breath and weak. His blue collar and white shirt underneath was stained with blood. He turned over to where Abby sat frozen. A look of, 'Oh, shit' realization came over his face. _

_"Okay, listen. Don't-" he began to speak, his voice sounded hoarse as he weakly tried to stand up. _

_Finding the strength from God knows where, Abby swiftly stood up and ran out of the alleyway. The voice of the man who died and came back to life in a matter of minutes faded away with each sprint she took. Abby only made it a short distance away before the dizziness and shock overcame her and fainted. _

She remembered.

---------

Abby walked down the street, her arms wrapped around her chest against the cold afternoon air as she headed back to The Wanderer Hostel. She had enough money now for a ticket out of Cardiff, money that she did not technically steal. Its was literally picked up from the street so it was not stealing. Abby pushed that thought away. Now was not the time for figuring out the difference between stealing and-

Abby stopped short when she reached near the hostel. Her eyes fell upon the well-known parked black SUV. The word 'Torchwood' engraved on the side. Her heart leapt to her throat. Her head swung around to the entrance of the hostel as three people, two men and a woman with dark hair strolled out, instantly noticing Abby only a few feet away, their elusive target within their sights.

Abby abruptly turned and ran.

TBC.

* * *

_ Yeah. I know. More running and chasing. The poor team.... keeps them on their toes, though! :D _


	5. Hide and Seek

**Author Note's: **_Once again. I do not nor will I ever own Torchwood or its characters. Torchwood owns me. :P_

_Thanks to Tylluan for beta-ing. You rule. ;) And to be on the safe side, I hereby claim poetic license. :D_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Hide and Seek**

"I can't believe we missed her again." Gwen uttered in annoyance as the three Torchwood team members walked to the exit of the Wanderer Hostel.

"Looks like Jack's brilliant plan of thinking the opposite backfired." Ianto said dryly.

"I did ask if you had a better plan." Jack replied as he pulled out the keys to the SUV.

"Do you think her abilities are getting stronger?" Gwen asked Jack.

"Looks like. You should've seen the the way she closed those elevators doors back at the hotel. The amount of psychic juice it took."

"So, she could have seen us coming yet again. Wonderful." Ianto retorted.

"Oh, its about to. " Jack chuckled. " At the rate she's going, it's quite possibly that she could be a lethal weapon by the end of the day."

"What do you mean?" asked Gwen.

"A powerful force of psychic energy that has been living dormant in a mind that hasn't been able to adapt to them suddenly busted wide open. The amount of power in this girl takes years and years of evolution for humans to develop." Jack explained. He walked a few steps ahead of his team in determination. His coat billowed slightly behind him.

"And it's growing. Kick started a few centuries early." added Gwen.

Jack nodded in confrimation. "Exactly and without knowing how to control it, she could level out the whole entire city."

"So, that's the purpose of all this? Destroying the city with the mind of one girl?" Gwen inquired.

"I don't know but if we can get her, we'll be able to know a lot more." Jack replied.

"Well, we really need to think of a better way of finding her, then. We can't just wait around for her to fall into our hands." Ianto said.

All three stopped when they reached the outside street just as Abby walked up a few feet away from them. She did indeed looked ill. Her hair was unkempt and the dark circles underneath her bloodshot eyes stood out against her pale skin. A feeling of exhaustion and weariness exuded from her. They stood for a moment, staring at each until Abby abruptly turned and ran.

"Here we go again." Ianto quipped.

-----------

She ran. She never ran so hard in her life. Its amazing how fast one person can run when their life depends on it.

"Stop right there!" a voice behind her yelled out. It was the woman.

She had no clue to where she was going. This was a city that she didn't know but she followed her gut. It was the one thing in all this craziness that she relied on.

Abby zig-zagged her way through the streets, ducking in and out of crowds of people who walked by, ignoring their sounds of protests at being shoved so rudely. She hoped that she was losing the Torchwood team but those people had the advantage of being in a group and knowing the city better than her.

Her legs burned from such force. Her chest and throat ached from breathing so hard but she couldn't stop now. Not until she found someplace safe.

Abby immediately ducked into an alleyway and hid. She closed her eyes and let her senses wash over her. An act that felt natural and yet was so foreign to her. She jerked her head to the side and felt them. In her mind's eye, Abby could basically see them running down the street, close to where she hid. She let her feelings expand and a pull in her gut told her to go this direction. She ran.

Panting heavily, Abby stopped in a part of town that was almost completely isolated. The stores were closed and there was hardly anyone in sight.

Abby leaned against the brick wall as she tried to catch her breath. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath into her lungs and once again, she let her senses overtake her and reached out around her. They were close by but they seemed to be going to the opposite direction from where Abby hid. She slid from the wall and plopped down to the concrete floor. Her head rested against the wall. She would stay here for awhile to rest and then go on to search for another place to sleep. She would have to ask random people out on the street for a near by hostel right out in the open. Luckily, she still had some extra money in her bag which thankfully, she was smart enough to grab. But what to do after that?

"I'm picking up her cell phone signal on the other side of the street." Gwen informed, looking down at the block, the tracking device beeping her hand.

"What do you think? Surround her? Distract her as one of us get the jump on her?" Ianto suggested. He was getting tired of running around the city.

Jack stood silent for a moment. There was an unreadable expression on his face.

"No. I'm gonna go after her. Alone. I'll call you if I need back up." He quickly jogged towards the area where Abby hid, leaving behind his teammates before they could disagree.

Abby was sweating profusely and her whole body felt heavy like lead. The gash above her eye began to throb. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in her warm bed back home and sleep but she was going to have to find someway of getting out of the country without alerting the people who were after her.

Abby sat staring at the ground in front of her, lost in thought, going over and over in her mind to what was going on when she heard a loud clank resonate in the secluded area. Her head jerked up at the sound, her eyes scanning everywhere around her to find the source of the noise. The cold wind blew softly, picking up debris in the air. Abby's eyes settled on a soda can that banged against an iron gate protecting a closed shop.

Her senses were on alert again. She quickly stood up, looking around at every corner and dark shadow for any unsuspecting visitors. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest. She place her hand over it, in fear that it was loud enough to be heard. She slowly made her way to an archway where she heard the sound, expecting to see something or someone to jump out. Abby closed her eyes instinctively and expanded her senses out like it was some natural reflex in her. She walked down past the quiet store fronts. She neither saw nor felt anything. There was no one there that she could see or feel when she reached the end of the archway, looking out towards the empty picnic area. Maybe it was just that soda can. Letting out a deep breath that she had been holding, she turned to walked back down the other end of the archway when she gasped out loud as she ran right into the familiar man with the grey coat.

Before Abby could blink, a white cloth from his hand came out of nowhere and covered her face. She was quickly pulled towards him, her back slamming against his chest. The horrendous smell of chloroform enveloped her nose. Abyy struggled to get out of his grip, her screams muffled by the cloth. Her hands grasped and pulled at his arm that pinned her to him, scratching at the thick wool of his coat. She pushed her body backwards and heard a quiet _'Oof'_ from the man as they hit the side of the wall. The back of Abby's head banged against the man's chest. She hoped that it was hard enough to cause him enough pain to let her go but it was no use. She was trapped.

Her vision blurred and her struggles weakened. She felt her eyes slowly droop and her entire body went lax. Like the iris at an old camera slowly closing, her vision faded into darkness.

_TBC_

* * *

_Yeeeah. There is not reason as to why this chapter was late and short other than the fact that I was distracted by the awesomeness that is Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell in "Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2" over the weekend. Now, I just need to watch Army of Darkness and my muse will come back... I hope. :P _

_Reviews help feed my sick habit of writing. Please do your part. :D_


	6. That Vision Thing

**Author Notes: **_Um.. yeah. Here's chapter 6. *scurries and hides*_

_**Disclaimer**: Honestly, if I DID own Torchwood we would have seen season 3 by now and NOT be pushed back to July. ;) But I don't and I'm SO not making money off of this which... pretty much sucks. _

_Timeline of this fic takes place after Exit Wounds and before Doctor Who's The Stolen Earth and Journey's End._

* * *

_  
_

**Chapter 6: That Vision Thing**

_Abby could never forget this playground. She spent the majority of her childhood playing there. _

_To see it again brought a warm feeling... and sadness to her heart. It was a time where everything made sense and life wasn't so hard and scary to live through. It was where the outside world disappeared and her own began. It was an endless place of imagination. An entire world of make believe. The entire structure of the playset was a castle where the highest part at the top of the slide was a tower where the princess was locked up. She used to pretend that the mulch surrounding the place was flowing, hot lava that would burned you as soon as you touched it with your feet. The monkey bars were long sturdy branches from the tallest tree in the jungle. The swing set gave you wings and the round-a-bout gave you a swirling sight of the blue sky. _

_Her footsteps were silent against the hot concrete blacktop, as she stepped over the white outlines of hopscotch, four square boxes and basketball court. _

_The sun was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect day to be outside playing. _

_There were sounds of children playing, running and shrieks of laughter that ranged across the courtyard. The countdown to hide and seek, someone calling out Tag and song games in tune with each smack of a jump rope;_

"Cinderella dressed in yella

Went upstairs to kiss a fella..."

_Or hands clapping against skin surrounded Abby. _

"Miss Mary Mack, mack, mack

All dressed in black, black, black,

With silver buttons..."

_It was the sound of innocence. There was only one problem._

_There wasn't a single child nor a person in sight. _

_Abby stood alone in the abandoned playground. It was like a ghost town. The swings, the round-a-bout and the seesaw moved softly by itself, lonely without its companions as a cool breeze blew past. _

_The entire place became silent like someone switched off the sound. There were no noises from anyone, not even a car or a plane passing by. Just the eerie sound of the wind blowing in the trees. Who knew that silence could be loud. _

_Abby turned slowly in place, looking everywhere around her for someone, anyone to appear. There was no one. _

_A noise to her left broke the deafening silence. A loud, repeated thwacking sound against the blacktop came closer and closer until it appeared in her line of sight. _

_Abby cocked an eyebrow. It was a globe. One of those earth globes that every teacher had in their classroom, bouncing by itself. It stopped and rolled to Abby's feet. What the hell?_

_She bent over to pick it up and studied its colorful and bumpy surface. It looked like an ordinary earth globe to her. _

_She sensed a presence near. Her eyes looked up to find a blonde haired boy dressed in a school uniform, staring at her. His eyes were unblinking and stood completely frozen on the spot. _

_Abby stood surprised at the sudden appearance of the young boy. He wasn't there a moment ago._

_"Hi. What's your name?" Abby's voice was gentle. The boy said nothing. She started to walk over to him when she felt warmth on her fingertips. Abby looked down at the globe to see little wafts of smoke coming out from its cracks, and felt heat coming from within._

_Abby immediately dropped it as a ball of fire engulfed the globe, burning it completely. She ooked up in horror at the unmoving boy in front of her. His expression on his face never faltered when he opened his mouth to speak. A voice came from his lips that Abby did not expect to hear coming from a little kid. _

_"We are coming."_

_A horrible, bone chilling scream filled the air. _

Abby awoke with a small jerk and a quiet gasp.

A blinding white light above her was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. She blinked them slowly, letting them adjust. She could feel that she lay on something hard and cold. Sudden and random noises came to her ears. Sounds of quiet blips and beeps and people talking but it all sounded very far away. Her brain felt muddled and slow.

Her vision cleared and saw that she was yet in other medical place. White title walls surrounded her with images of x-rays of what looked like a human skull and a blue computer image of a body. Two small stairways were on either side with thin metal rails. What is it with her waking up in a medical areas?

Panic swelled inside her as she fought to remember how she came to be there and where was here, anyway?

Abby struggled to sit up but was forced back down by black restraints strapped across her chest and legs. She bent one of her arms and found that she could easily reach for the buckle to get free. Her ears picked up the sound of movement and of people talking coming closer. She quickly laid back down and pretended to still be unconscious.

She heard the two voices come closer, one man and one women both with Welsh accents. Abby watched through barely open lids at the man and woman talking amongst themselves at the top of the stairs. She could barely make out what they were saying. The man mentioned something of finding another one. Another one what? She also heard the woman mentioned tests on Abby. What kind of tests? What the hell kind of place was this?

Abby snapped her eyes back shut and laid perfectly still as the man and woman moved from their spot and listened to their footsteps walk out of earshot.

A hazel eyeball peeked open a moment later and scanned around. Alone again. Abby reached over her chest and legs and unbuckled herself from the restraints. They were so easy to get out of. They were obviously not expecting her to wake up so soon.

She slowly sat up and rested on her elbows, half sitting up, half laying down and breathed heavily through her nose. She took a moment to gather herself. She swung her legs over the table and looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone in sight. She saw the small flight of steps that lead up and out of the medical area where the man and woman stood. That seemed to be the in and out of this place. Slowly and quietly, Abby slid off from the metal table. Her feet landed delicately.

A sound of a gunshot shook her. She gasped and held onto the table for support as a quick, sharp pain hit her stomach. A name ranged through her mind.

_"Toshiko!"_

Abby's head jerked up to the voice. It sounded so close but there was no one. Her eyes saw quick flashes of a woman lay dying in someone's arms, tears staining her cheeks. Her tear filled voice echoed through Abby's mind.

_"You're breaking my heart."_

"Oh my god." Abby sucked in a shaky breath._ Someone died here. _ She turned her attention back to the set of stairs and with wobbly feet, headed for them.

--

Jack looked down from the second story walkway over at the medical bay. He chuckled softly to himself. He tapped the com in his ear.

"Look alive, people. It seems that our guest has woken up a bit early."

"I thought you said that she would be unconscious for another hour? We haven't finished running tests on her. " Jack heard Gwen's voice speak up.

"Well, apparently she's a light sleeper. She's making her way out of the medical bay. Let's try not to spook her. "

"You mean anymore that she already is?" Ianto's voice cracked through the ear com.

"All right, let's try not to spook her a lot. At this stage, we don't know what her mind is capable of. There's a possibility that with a blink of an eye, she could go Carrie on prom night on all of us."

"Well, it would be easier to catch her if she tries to escape. Psychic powers or not, its pretty much locked down in here." Gwen spoke up.

"A telekinetic, precognitive american tourist." Ianto paused for a moment. "You think we should ask her for the winning lottery numbers before she tries to kill us with her mind?"

"She's out of the medical bay." Jack interrupted. "Here's what we're gonna do."

--

Abby peered out as far as she could from at the top of the steps, her eyes scanning everywhere. She saw computer workstations, an office behind her and a brown couch with a coffee table littered with papers and magazines next to the entry way where she stood but no people.

Abby seemed pretty sure that wherever she was, the place was big but it wasn't until she fully stepped out of the entry way of the medical bay and looked up that she finally comprehended how huge the place was. It was massive. Batman wished he could a batcave like this. Bruce Wayne's mansion could fit in this place and it would still get lost.

She slowly spun around, taking in the hugeness of the place when she stopped dead at the large black lettering on the wall painted above the couch.

'TORCHWOOD'

More voices echoed through Abby's mind. She squeezed her eyes shut at the rush.

_"I'm going out fighting. Like Owen and Tosh. How about you?" _

_A small explosion. More gunfire. A woman screaming rang out in defiance at an unseen enemy_.

Abby eye's snapped open. A feeling of danger and fear shivered through her. This is a bad place. How the hell did she get here? An odd chemical smell was still in her nose. Abby's memories came flooding back. That man. He drugged and brought her here. Her heart pounded against her rib cage. She tore her eyes away from the wall and with determination started looking for a way out.

"Okay, Abby. Look around. There's gotta be a way out of here. If you got in, then you can get out." she muttered to herself.

She tiptoed passed the computer stations and saw up ahead what looked like a large door with iron bars. Was this the way out? Only one way to be sure. Abby walked a little faster towards what she hoped was the entrance.

A solid grip on her arm from behind stopped her dead in her tracks. She snapped her head around and came face to face with Capt. Jack Harkness.

Abby looked up in fear when she realized that it was the very same man who kidnapped her. Who also died and came back to life in front of her eyes from a few nights ago. She remembered his dead vacant blue eyes but to see them looking back at her full of life and a hint of mischief was more than Abby could take.

"No. No way." her mouth opened as she stared at him with incredulous surprise. " How...?" she started to back away from Jack only to have his strong grip stop her from going anywhere.

Jack made a tutting sound. "Ah, ah! No escaping this time."

Abby's breathing kicked up and felt pressure build from behind her hazel eyes only this time there was no pain. She watched in shock as Jack flew back with such force and slid all the way across the floor, stopping with a loud bang when his back hit front of the desk hard.

Without a moment's notice Abby darted straight for the gated entrance practically jumping over the small steps. She ran into the gate with a loud clank when out of nowhere another pair of strong arms in a suit jacket wrapped themselves around Abby, locking both her hands in front of her.

Abby screamed bloody murder. The lights in the Hub started to flicker.

"No! Let me go! Let go of me!" Abby fought hard, her attention fixed solely on getting out of the strong hold she was in. She didn't notice Gwen appearing beside her holding a syringe with a pale blue liquid. She gasped in pain as the needle went through and let out a shuddering breath as the liquid entered her system. She immediately felt woozy. Her body movements felt sluggish and slow and she could hardly stand on her feet but she didn't feel like she was going to pass out. She felt like she was drunk.

Ianto eased his hold on Abby as soon as he felt her struggles weaken. He grunted softly and shifted his weight when Abby's legs almost gave out from under her. Both Gwen and Ianto turned to look back at Jack walking over to them, slightly limping and rubbing his chest gingerly.

"You all right?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Felt like I was hit by a lorry. Something I did not want to experience again."

"What should we do with her?" Gwen asked. Abby stood on wobbly feet. She was being supported up by Ianto's hold and had a glazed look in her eyes.

"Let's take her to the holding cell. It's time that we had a little chat."

--------------

Abby sat dazed on the cold concrete slab they called a bench in one of the holding cells of Torchwood. She rested on one side, her elbow proping her up. She faced away from the man outside the cell, the man that the others called Jack stood outside the clear, plastic door. She could feel the man's gaze stare behind her as she tried to shake off the effects of whatever they had given her.

They had brought her, or rather dragged her down to the sub level of Torchwood to the holding cells. Whatever they had given her seemed to have screwed up her motor functions and made the entire place tilt for a second. She squinted her eyes shut and fisted her hand onto the suit jacket as a wave vertigo came over her. A firm but gentle hand held her steady as they walked further below of Torchwood. She knew that she shouldn't be clinging onto to this guy who was helping her walk down to where they were going to lock her up but right now this guy was the only thing keeping her from falling down on her ass. Once they reached the holding cells, she gladly sank down onto the concrete bench.

She felt oddly detached from everything. It was almost like she was high on something but the room finally stopped moving. Abby slowly looked over her shoulder at the man. He stood there expressionless with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Wh-what did you... give me?" Abby panted.

"Its an enzyme. It stops the activity of your psychic powers in the certain part of your brain. The grogginess is a side of effect. It should off wear soon. "

Abby sat up a littler straighter. "You're an american?" Abby shook her head. "I watched you die. I saw you. You were dead. Who are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness. And you're Abigail Trudeau or do you prefer to be called Abby?"

Abby's vision cleared up and took a look around her cell. How very Guantanamo Bay.

"Where am I? I want out of here."

"Sorry but we can't." Jack walked a little closer to the door. "You know, you gave us a lot of trouble of finding you. I gotta say you're the first human being ever to give us the slip a couple of times. Although you do have an advantage."

"Sorry for the inconvenience. Now, let me out. "

"We can't let you leave." Jack replied.

"I'm an american citizen. You have no right of keeping me here. I want to call my embassy. I haven't done anything wrong!"

"What do you call sabotaging a public ATM machine causing a thousands of pounds spilling out in the streets? How do you wanna explain to your lawyer that you did it with the power of your mind?"

"Who are you people?" Abby said in frustration. She quickly jumped from her seat and charged at the door. She closed her eyes briefly and opened them once the sudden dizziness passed. "Are you some kind of special forces for the police?"

"We don't work for the police or the government."

"Then who are you? You chased- " A puzzled expression came on Abby's face. She stared intently at Jack. "You're different." she whispered.

Jack stayed silent.

"When you found me in that picnic area, I couldn't... It's different with you." Abby said, curiously. "With other people its like there is this buzzing noise. Static from the tv type of noise but with you. There's nothing."

"I'm not like other guys." he replied with a cheeky grin.

Abby stood quiet, staring at Jack. From the look on Abby's face, it looked like she checked out. She was no longer_ there_, there. Her eyes looked wild, predatory almost. The pupils of her eyes were large that the color of her eyes barely rimmed around them.

"Abby?"

The lights began to flicker. He heard Ianto's voice crackled through the intercom of the hub.

"Jack. Something's going on. The lights and the computers around the Hub are going haywire."

Gwen came bursting through the doors. "There's a sudden spike in Abby's brain activity and blood pressure. The entire right side of her brain is lit up like a christmas tree."

Surprised, Jack looked at Abby and saw her fixed gaze on him.

"Its Abby. She's fighting through the enzyme. Abby, listen to me. Don't force it. "

"Abby. Can you hear us?" Gwen called out.

"There's something..." Abby said, her voice soft. _Abby's not home right now. Please leave a message at the beep. _

She pushed harder, blocking everything else out. With him, there was something there. She could barely see it but it was there and she wanted to see. She wanted to know what makes him so different.

A dull ache was forming behind Abby's eyes but she ignored it and pushed further. Something was there. It got clearer every time she got closer. The dull ache was now a sharp pain. Something told her she should stop but she kept going. She groaned loudly against the pain.

Abby's hand slapped against the plastic barrier between them, reaching. She closed her eyes, the picture was getting clearer. Blue sky. The smell of salt. The sound of water, crashing.

The sharp pain was slowly blossoming every time Abby pushed. She felt something warm ooze past her lips and dribble down on her chin and then like a light switch white-hot pain exploded in Abby's head as the picture finally became clear. A beach.

Abby felt her knees give out from under her and sank quickly to the floor, leaning against the plastic door.

She clutched her head in her hands, breathing heavily, trying to hold back the nausea. She felt hands gently grabbing her as she looked up to see. Her vision swam and swallowed loudly against the vomit that threaten to come up. She blinked several times before the faces in front of her finally became visible.

"Dude." Abby smiled drunkenly at Jack. A thin trail of blood dribbled down from her nose, staining her lips. "You're a tough nut to crack."

TBC

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_This is something that I have been meaning to do._

_Thanks to **Storms-Are-My-Nature, SqutternutBosh, Socalrose, Angeli88, and Aviarianna O Lorien **for your reviews. You guys rule. ;)_

_And thanks to those who lurk instead of reviewing. You guys pretty much rule too. :D_


	7. Voyeurism

**Disclaimer:** _I so do not own Torchwood so it won't do anyone any good suing me since I own nothing but a laptop and a piggy bank filled with pennies. If I did own Torchwood, it would have a happier ending. One that included lots of Janto-ness and naked hide & seek with a stopwatch thrown in :D_

_Mucho gracias to my beta Tylluan and to Meef at Torchwoodforum(dot)uk for the psychic help. ;)_

_

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**Chapter 7: Voyeurism**

"What's that part called again?" Gwen pointed to the blue computer screen mounted on the wall of the Board room. Her head was tilted to the side as she studied the interior image of a brain. She stood leaning back against the large conference table, holding a folder against her chest with her brow furrowed in concentration. Ianto appeared beside her handing her a hot mug of coffee. He looked to what Gwen was pointing at.

"The hippocampus... I think. No, wait. That's the Temporal Lobe."

"What was that name of that part? That lizard part that they taught in school?"

Ianto looked confused. "The lizard part?"

"Yeah, you know. On one those brain charts with the picture of the lizard on the- nevermind. God, if Owen could hear us now, figuring out the parts of the human brain." Gwen took a sip of her coffee.

"He probably roll his eyes and tell us that we have a brain the size of a lizard's." Ianto quipped.

"Or say something like it were up to us to name parts of the human anatomy, we would named the head 'ass'. "

Ianto and Gwen shared a quiet laugh.

"He would know what to do." Gwen said after a moment.

"Who?"

"Owen. He would know how to help Abby. And Tosh. They would know what to do. Their quick, outside-the-box thinking and Owen's medical knowledge and Tosh's computer genius, they would have something. " Gwen sighed. "We depended on them so much when they were alive and sometimes when I think about them, I just..."

"You what?"

"I feel guilty." she replied, softly. Ianto felt a rush of sadness. He too felt shared the same feelings as Gwen and felt a little relieved of knowing that there was someone else who felt the same as he did. He wrapped his arm around Gwen, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting, gentle manner. He heard a quiet sniff and felt her lean into him.

"I really miss them, Ianto. I miss Owen's cocky attitude and insults. I miss Tosh's techno-babble and seeing her at her workstation."

"I know. I do, too." Ianto said. " I sometimes still half expect to see them when I come down here. I almost made their coffee the other day."

Gwen and Ianto stood quietly for a moment both lost in the memories of their fallen but very missed friends. Gwen sighed loudly and squinted back up to the blue screen. Back to business.

"What's that part called?" she pointed to a different part of the brain.

It was Ianto's turn to cock his head to the side. "The amygdala?"

"No. You're both wrong." Jack's voice spoke up as he walked into the Board room. Gwen and Ianto immediately straightened up.

"That's the brain stem." He walked over to the screen and pointed to a small, walnut shaped part inside the brain. "This is the amygdala."

"We were way off." Gwen said in disappointment.

"What do you got?" Jack asked. Time to start working.

Gwen placed down her folder onto the table and started pulling papers from it.

"I've completed all the tests on Abby. Her blood work and everything else is normal and the gash above her eye is healing but a scan picked up something unusual around it."

"Such as?"

"Alien DNA but only in that spot. My guess is that they alien licked the gash for whatever reason and these are the results I got from the archives." Gwen handed a paper over to Jack. His eyes scanned the sheet until they lit up in recognition.

"The Adepts."

"You know them?" Ianto asked.

"I've met one. They come from a planet called Hesperia in the Sephora system. They're a race of human beings that are highly psychic."

"They're human?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Well, aside from their glowing blue eyes, yeah. They live in a closed off world separated from everyone else. From what I learned about them, they're very evolved and very peaceful people. They never use their abilities fro personal gain or harm anyone, let alone kill which doesn't make sense because they wouldn't come out all this way to attack and hurt random people for no apparent reason. It would go against everything they were taught."

"From what you described in that alleyway, it didn't look human." Gwen confirmed.

"No, it didn't. It almost looked deformed. Something must have happened to him before he came through the Rift."

"This is the brain scan on Abby." Ianto clicked on the picture of Abby's brain with a small remote at the computer wall. The picture bleeped as it slowly revolved around, splitting the image of the brain in half, showing every inch of it. "The scans show damage on the amygdala as well as the areas surrounding it."

Jack walked up to the screen for a closer look. He pointed at the highlighted blemished area. "The thalamus, the occipital lobes, the pineal gland all practically look like scrambled eggs."

"Its just in those areas. The rest looks untouched." said Ianto.

"Sensory data." Jack stated.

"What?" Gwen asked.

"These are the areas of sensory data." Jack pointed to the back part of the brain, just above the brain stem and cerebellum. " The occipital lobes are responsible for visual input. " He then moved on to a slightly larger part in the middle, "The thalamus serves as a relay station for all sensory input. " And back to the walnut shape part, " And the amygdala filters out feelings and emotions such as fear and anxiety."

"Explains why she's always trying to run away from us." Ianto pointed out.

"So, what's the Adept trying to accomplish with this?" asked Gwen.

Jack looked away from the screen and back to his teammates. " They say that we only use 10 percent of our brain and that the other 90 percent is unused. What if this Adept purposely lobotomized these certain areas to create psychic abilities in Abby by waking up the 90 percent part of her brain?"

"You mean like when someone loses their sight or hearing. The other senses become more heightened in order to survive." Ianto clarified.

Jack nodded. " Exactly. When Abby was in that coma, her body did what it was program to do. Heal itself and adapt. The 90 percent was turned on in order to compensate for the damage that was done to these parts."

"And thus, creating a psychic." Gwen finished.

"Abby is developing the same abilities as the Adepts. Telekinesis, telepathy, empathy, precognition, and remote viewing all come from certain parts of the their evolved brain." Jack continued " But there's one ability that not many Adepts have and that is creating illusions and hallucinations."

"Mind control?" Ianto inquired.

"Not exactly. They can give shape from less things. Bring objects forth through the mind and into reality. Imaginations that come alive."

"Hold on. Abby right side of her brain is the most active which makes it the dominate side. That's the side of creativity and intuition, isn't it?" asked Gwen.

"The artistic side." said Jack.

"Well, that explains why the Adept targeted Abby. She's a student from UCLA studying photography." Gwen took out another piece of paper and handed it over to Jack. "There was camera equipment and a laptop full of photos of places around Cardiff in her hotel room. One in particular of us walking out from the Water Tower. "

"A creative, artistic mind. Just what the Adept was looking for. " Ianto mused.

"That still doesn't answer one question though. " said Jack.

"What's that?"

"Why?"

-------

Grief. That was the unmistakable feeling around the place. Grief and death. It was the first thing Abby felt and saw as she awoke in the medical lab. Someone, some women's last moment occurred there before Death came forward and collected what was due.

Abby remember feeling and seeing that through amidst of all the pain, blood, and fear that women, Toshiko went through, there was one small comforting thought that flashed through Abby's mind. That she wasn't alone. That she didn't die on some cold, empty medical room, watching the life slowly seep out of her as she sat on the hard, blood stained floor. She was surrounded by love, warmth, and friends. Friends who were there to hold her, comfort her, and to take the pain away as she took her last breath before the eternal darkness took over. Grief followed soon after that and has stuck around since then but it was nothing new down inside Torchwood. Over a hundred years of those feelings buried down beneath this place. The vibes Abby were getting were vivid. Its a wonder that the whole place hasn't erupted like a volcano, spewing out the negative energy. To someone with a sensitive mind, a psychic, it was a complete nightmare.

It was getting harder and harder for Abby to concentrate. She learned as the enzyme wore off that if she stayed very still and very quiet, she could hear everything. The buzzing static went away and in its place was full clear, speaking sentences coming from God knows where. It was as if people were standing in the cell with her, speaking all at once. But to an outsider's perspective, Abby sat in her cell, alone.

Abby turned and faced the cell plastic door. She stiffly pulled her knees to her chest and leaned back against the cold, rough walls of the cell. She gently placed her head on top of her knees, mindful of the wound above her eye. The area throbbed but it was nothing compared to the ache coming from deep within her mind. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to do something to take her mind off the pain and the voices so she started singing softly through gritted teeth the first song that popped into her head amongst the thoughts of others to drown them out.

_"All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. I've been for a walk on a winter's day." _

Abby needed to hear her own voice and no one else's. She feared that she would get lost amongst the voices, absorbed by the thoughts and feelings of other people and never come out. To make matter's worse, she had been getting random images that came along with the voices and there was a strong possibility that some of the images are tiny glimpses of the past and future and it's happening more frequently. Her voice grew louder, trembling out the words of the song.

_"I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A. California dreamin' on such a winter's day." _

She desperately tried to picture anything. Anything that she could think of. Places, people that she met, the photographs she had taken over the years. Her home, her parents, her friend Dave and all the places they went to in L.A. All of which seemed like a distant memory to Abby and now instead of distracting herself from the pain in her mind, there was a pain in her heart.

She missed home so much. The familiar smells and sounds of her apartment, the street noise outside her bedroom window. She was even starting to miss the smog that loomed over the city. She missed the life she had before this trip, the blissful ignorance of what she knew about the world and the universe. She wanted to go somewhere different. Well, Cardiff was certainly that.

Apparently from what she had been told after her little episode, aliens frequented the city very often because of a rift in time and space that went right over the city. That's what attacked her that night. An alien. After what she had been through these last few days, could the possibility of alien existence be that far off? Psychic abilities aside... yes. Abby was willing to believe the possibility of ghosts but aliens? Abby didn't know what to believe now. She did believe however that what happened earlier with Captain Jack Harkness was indeed real. The pain and the nosebleed definitely felt real. Abby swallowed thickly. She could still taste the blood at the back of her throat.

She continued to sing to herself until she sensed someone was coming down to the holding cells even before she could hear the sound of their footsteps. She lifted her head up from her knees and watched as the woman, Gwen she was called, stopped in front of the cell.

Gwen felt a pang of sympathy at the young girl when she looked up to face her. She looked beyond exhausted and her face had a slight green tinge to it. What a week that this poor girl had. What started as a vacation for her, ended up being turned into an object for some alien's experiment. She mustered up a small smile as she stood in front of the plastic door.

"Hello, Abby. My name's Gwen. " Abby already knew before she ever came down here. "How do you feel?"

Abby sat silently for a moment, her face crinkling in thought. "Did you ever see 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'? "

Gwen looked confused by the randomness of the question but still replied, " Yes."

"Remember the part where the Nazis' faces melted off?"

Gwen had to pause and think about the part Abby was referring to. She remembered watching the movie with Rhys awhile back during one of their movie nights. She remembered Harrison Ford looking quite hunky in that fedora hat, a big ball chasing him, a roomful of snakes, and... ohhh! Gwen winced. Ooh. That bad.

"I'll try to get you some painkillers. See if that'll help." Gwen heard Abby murmur a quiet 'thank you'.

They both went silent, unsure what to say next until Gwen reached over to the side of Abby's cell and with a series of beeps, the plastic barrier whooshed opened.

Abby shifted in her seat when she saw Gwen walk over and sat down next to her on the cement bench. She lowered her legs over it and scooted a little closer to the wall next to her, a little away from Gwen. The action wasn't done to be intentionally rude, it was just that the feelings of pity and sympathy rolled off from Gwen like a wave and onto Abby. The reaction didn't go unnoticed from Gwen. She sighed softly.

"Abby," she started gently. "I know you must be scared and confused and we can help you but we need your help as well."

Abby looked surprised. "With what?"

"Finding the alien that did this to you. You were the only person that this alien left unharmed in a way."

"There have been others?" Abby whispered.

Gwen nodded. "Yes. Five other people have been found near where you were attacked. They're in a catatonic state over at St. Helen's Hospital."

"Is that what happened to me?"

"Not exactly. You were different. You were the only one in a coma when you were admitted."

"Why?"

"We don't know. That's what we're trying to find out. " said Gwen.

Abby fidgeted in her seat. "What about that guy? Um, Captain Harkness. He was... I mean, I-"

"Saw him come back to life."

Abby grinned just a little. "Yeah. What's his deal? Is he an alien, too?"

"No, he's human. Something happened to him a long time ago. He doesn't talk about it very much. We just know that he can't die and he's Torchwood's longest employee. "

"So, he's immortal and got the tall, dark and mysterious vibe going for him. The women must be swooning at his feet."

Gwen laughed. "Well, not just the women and believe me, he knows it."

Abby could sense the feeling of sympathy and pity from Gwen shift to feelings of affection when they started talking about Jack but it felt like it went a bit deeper than that with a hint of confusion or uncertainty of those feelings. A image of another man with kind smile flashed through Abby's mind. The name Rhys ranged through her ears along with feelings of love, happiness, and normality went through her. Abby glanced down at Gwen's left hand. A wedding ring. She was married. So that was it. Married and a slight crush on the boss. All you need is a pregnant woman with two potential fathers, some guy stealing the family fortune and for someone to come back from the dead and you'd have a soap opera. So far, only one of those things have come true. Abby quickly decided to change the subject.

"So, what do I have to do to help find the alien?"

"We've got an idea."

-------

" So, what happened in Roswell was all true?" Abby asked Gwen as they both walked out of the holding cells.

"Afraid so."

Abby couldn't resist letting out a soft laugh. "So, what were they doing? Taking the parent's car out for a joy ride?" she said sarcastically.

"Well, they were only teenagers. They didn't know any better." Gwen replied, serious. Abby was a bit taken back by the answer and was about to ask another until they walked into the main level of the Hub.

Abby didn't get a very good look of the whole place the last time she had been there since she was too busy trying to escape at the time and got caught. She trailed behind Gwen, looking up in awe of the vastness of the place as they made their way to the medical lab. She saw the familiar looking Water Tower from the Plass standing straight through the middle of the Hub. So that's where they were. Under the Plass. Abby was startled out of her thoughts and yelped when she heard a loud, echoey screech and wings flapping coming from above.

"What was that?"

"Our pterodactyl." Ianto said smiling, coming out of nowhere. Abby swung around at his sudden appearance. She chuckled in disbelief.

"Yeah, right." she did a double take. "Wait. I know you." Awareness flashed through her eyes. " You're the guy from the Tourist Center. Jesus Christ! Does everyone in this city work for you guys?"

"Come on. This way." Gwen gently maneuvered Abby to the direction of the medical lab. Ianto followed behind.

"So, what are we going to do exactly?" Abby asked.

"Well, we believe that you could be connected to the alien psychically and we have a machine that could help project your mind into the alien's."

Abby didn't like the sound of that but she stayed quiet.

"It's safe. Our friend and co-worker used it once to project herself into the mind of a 1917 solider to stop the past mixing with the present. Anyway, we think that with your remote viewing ability and the machine and some of the alien's DNA that he left behind on you gash could help us pinpoint where he's hiding at. Give it an extra boost, you might say. "

"Oh, okay. That makes sense... sort of. " Abby chuckled nervously. Her eyes suddenly screwed shut and she groaned quietly. She pinched the bridge of her nose at the immediate pain that erupted in her head. She quickly tried to shake it off.

"You all right?" Gwen asked in concern, placing her hand on Abby's shoulder.

Abby jerked away from the touch. It felt like another added weight of feelings and thoughts from that innocent touch. "I'm fine. Just a headache."

Gwen raised her hands in a placated manner. "All right. Let's get you started."

Abby walked down the steps of the lab. The cold, metal table which she woken up in was no longer there and was replaced with a reclining, demented looking dentist chair.

She paused at the bottom of the steps, staring at a particular spot near the chair. Abby remembered the image of the asian women who died there. Tosh. She remembered how much pain she felt, how scared she was, and how relieved she felt when she saw Jack, Gwen and Ianto arrive until she didn't feeling anything anymore. Abby shuddered and calmly walked around the spot, carefully avoiding it and sat down in the chair. She didn't see the glances the team threw at each other at the action. Abby sat anxiously. She looked up and saw Jack standing at the top of the steps, silently looking down at her, arms folded across his chest with an unreadable look on his face.

"Does he ever talk or does he like to stand there and pose?" Abby asked Gwen.

"Would you like me to get your camera?" Gwen said playfully. Abby huffed out a small laugh. Well, now that she mentioned it...

Gwen and Ianto stood on either side of Abby and started hooking up every piece of wire to a weird looking helmet that they had placed on her head. She tried not to cringe under their closeness and touch as their thoughts and emotions filtered through her mind. One in particular caught her curiosity.

"What's so fun about a stopwatch?" she asked out loud. Ianto and Gwen stopped what they were doing at the question.

"What did you say?" Ianto looked over at Gwen who seemed to have gone red in the face, trying her damnedest not to break out in a fit of giggles.

Abby meanwhile was oblivious to Ianto's uneasiness. "What fun could you have with a stopwatch with someone? I don't understand how... oh. Oh!" Abby's eyes widen and shot back and forth over at Jack and Ianto. "Wow. That's new."

Ianto blushed furiously. Okay. Telepathy is bad. Very bad. "I'm gonna... ahem, start the projector."

Abby stared at Ianto's retreating form. She caught the smirk on Jack's face at Ianto as he made his way down the steps and stood beside a laptop computer on a table hooked up to a large machine.

"I'm never gonna look at a stopwatch the same way again." she muttered.

Gwen decided this was a good place to change the subject. "So, Abby. You're a photography student at UCLA."

Abby looked at Gwen in confusion.

"We looked you up and found your things back at the hotel." Gwen clarified. "You've taken lovely photos of the city."

"Thanks." said Abby.

"So, why did you come to Cardiff? Most photographer's first choice would be London."

Abby shrugged. "London's been done so many times. So many of the same photos. I just wanted to go somewhere different. Boy, did I get my wish."

"Did you always wanted to be a photographer?" Gwen asked.

"Not a first, no. I wanted to be a dentist for some reason." Abby laughed softly. "I used to visit my grandparent's house in San Francisco for the summer as a kid. One day, I was snooping around my grandpa's office and found this thick photo album with black and white photos in it."

Abby smiled wistfully. "I wasn't allowed in his office so when grandma caught me in there with the album, I thought I was in trouble. But instead she took me to the living room and sat down with me, going over the album and told me who the people were. It was a photographic family tree."

"I remember thinking it was like going back in time. Those pictures were windows into the past. Moments frozen forever. I used to stare at those pictures wondering what this person was thinking when it was taken. What did they do before and after the photo. What was it like back then, you know? After that, everytime I visited, I would ask my grandma to take out the album. She was the one who gave me my very first camera for my 16th birthday. "

Gwen smiled. "She sounds like a wonderful grandmother."

"Yeah, she was. "

Silence came between them. Abby shifted in her seat and laughed awkwardly.

"You ready?" Gwen asked.

Abby took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"All right. Lean back."

Abby slowly leaned back against the reclining chair. She jumped sightly when she felt hands on her wrists and ankles. Ianto came back, this time without his face red with embarrassment. The leather restraints felt cool against Abby's skin. Ianto noticed Abby eyeballing them apprehensively.

"Its just a precaution." he reassured.

"Right." Abby swallowed nervously. Her hands were beginning to sweat. Gwen leaned over to her.

"I know this might sound ridiculous but try to relax."

Abby nodded. "Yeah, okay." Her heart still raced.

Gwen and Ianto took their positions. Ianto beside Jack with the machine and Gwen on the other side of the lab.

"Okay. Now, you're gonna-" Jack started to say when Abby interrupted.

"Feel a small prick?"

"Something like that." Jack flipped on the switch. The laptop beeped on with life, tracking Abby's heart rate, pulse, and brain activity.

Abby's eyes quickly snapped shut against the pressure from behind her eyes. Her body went ridged, almost arching up from the chair. Both hands gripped the armrests tightly. Her face was pinched in pain. Harsh, quick, panting breaths escaped from her lips. The force of the projector caught Abby unawares.

"Relax. Don't fight it." Jack's voice floated into Abby's mind from somewhere. "Just let it take you to where it's going. You're safe."

With much difficulty, Abby forced herself to relax, taking deep and slow breaths. She let her feelings reach out and let them take her to where they were being pulled.

_She suddenly found herself standing in a strange, dark room. She slowly spun around, taking in her surroundings._

"What do you see, Abby?" Jack asked her, his voice in a calm, even tone.

"A room." Abby responded sleepily. "Looks dark. Nighttime."

_The room was eerily quiet. She looked up. _

"Anything else?"

"Windows. Colorful windows."

_The moonlight shone through with its pale light mixing with the colors of the decorated window._

"You mean stained glass windows?" Jack corrected.

Abby nodded tensely. "Yeah." Her eyes darted back and forth behind her close lids.

"Can you make it to the windows to see where you are?" Jack asked calmly so not to startled Abby in her current state. He saw her relaxed face twist in fear.

"I-I don't..."

"It's okay. You're safe. What else do you see?"

_Abby turned when she heard a soft thud coming from her right in the shadows just underneath a balcony. _

Abby shifted slightly. "There's something here."

"What?" Jack straightened in interest. Abby sat silent, breathing deeply.

_She walked towards to the direction where she heard the noise in the shadows. She jumped back when she felt her foot connect with something solid._

Abby let out a small gasp.

"Abby?" Jack's voice filtered in, worried. Abby didn't respond.

_She walked closer and crouched down, searching blindly with her hand for the thing that her foot touched._

Abby breathed heavily, her face scrunched up in concentration. Jack, Gwen and Ianto all looked at each other in curiosity.

_Abby's legs suddenly felt sluggish. It felt like she was walking through thick, heavy mud. Everytime she walked closer to the shadows, she was pulled back like having a rubber band around her waist, stretching everytime she went closer only to be pulled back. _

"What's going on, Abby?" prompted Jack back in the Hub.

_Abby felt the entire room change. Like she inadvertently set off a silent alarm. _

Abby gasped. "Something's happening."

"What? What is it?"

_Abby swung around, searching. She felt her stomach drop._

"He knows. He knows I'm here." she breathed fearfully. "There's something he doesn't want me to see."

"Jack. We should stop." Ianto warned.

"Just wait."

"I don't know... where he is." Abby said softly.

_Abby slowly back away from the dark shadows. Her eyes looked around apprehensively, waiting for him to make his presence known to her. Her body was tense, ready to run at a moment's notice like a scared rabbit although she had no idea where to go. Her attention was focused in front of her that she didn't noticed a looming, dark figure standing behind her with his arms raised above him. Waiting for her to get closer and closer to him. Just one more step..._

_Gotcha. _

Abby jerked in her seat as if she had be struck. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. The laptop beeped loudly and quickly at the sudden jump in Abby's heart rate and brain activity.

"Jack?" he heard Gwen say, worried.

"Abby? What's happening?" he asked.

Abby stayed silent. Her mouth closed into a tight grimace like she was trying hard to hold back the pain. Her heart rate beeped rapidly.

"That's enough, Jack. Get her out." Gwen spoke up.

"He-he won't... let me go." Abby grunted out. Her eyes fluttered and rolled back of her head and started to convulse. The laptop went haywire.

"Shit! Jack!" Gwen swore as she and Jack rushed over and try to hold Abby down.

"Ianto. Turn off the projector! Now!" Jack shouted.

Ianto began to type furiously at the keyboard, ignoring the warnings the computer was sending of the abnormal heart rhythm. Abby continued to shake helplessly in the chair, the leather restraints chaffing against her skin.

"Ianto! Turn it off!" roared Jack.

Just as Ianto was about to punch in the last button on the keyboard the frantic beeping of Abby's heart rate suddenly slowed down to normal like nothing ever happened.

"What the...?" Ianto turned to see Jack and Gwen holding down on Abby's still form.

Abby's eyes snapped open wide and she pulled in a loud gasp. Gwen, Ianto, and Jack all jumped back at the shocking appearance of Abby's eyes. They were no longer a deep hazel color but a cold, pale icy blue that bore deep at them. This was not Abby.

"Stay away." The voice growled through Abby's lips.

Jack's face went hard. "Why are you here?"

The pale eyes shifted around the Torchwood team and the lab.

"What do you want?" Jack demanded when he didn't get answer.

The pale eyes of the alien possessing Abby passed over to Jack, staring back hard. "I need her. _We_ need her."

Jack watched as Abby groaned painfully and her eyes rolled around wildly, closing shut. She slumped in her chair with a soft and weary sigh. Her eyes blinked opened, no longer the pale blue gaze and then widened in shock. Tears immediately pooled around them as she stared at Jack. The statement was written clearly on her face.

_Help me. _

_TBC_

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**A/N: **_Just want to clear something up. The machine they used on Abby in this chapter is the same one they used on Tosh in _"To The Last Man"_ to project herself into Tommy's mind. They didn't show or say how it worked let alone give it a name so I called it "The Psychic Projector" and I totally made it up how it works. ;)_

_Oh. In case anyone was wondering what song Abby was singing towards the beginning of this chapter, it's _"California Dreaming"_ by The Mamas and The Papas. _

**Aviarianna O Lorien: **_Glad to know you liked the ending sentence on chapter 6. I almost took it out because I thought it wasn't right. Well, I was wrong. lol_

**Storms-Are-My-Nature: **_No need to forgive. I understand that the real world likes to butt in once in a while. God knows it happens enough times with me. Its very rude, actually. :P Glad to hear that you're enjoying the story! :D_


	8. Echoes Screaming Back

**Author's Notes**: _Yeah, I'm still here. And no, I don't own nothing of Torchwood.... unless I win lotto then I'll negotiate with Russell T. Davies. :P_

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**Chapter 8: Echoes Screaming Back**

Abby sat quietly on the brown couch outside the medical lab. She leaned slightly forward, her arms wrapped around her stomach. A brown curtain of hair hid her face partially from view. She stared at the littered coffee table but looked at nothing. Gwen sat next to her, speaking softly. She was about to place a comforting hand on Abby's back but pulled it away when she saw Abby flinch at the movement. She remembered earlier how Abby reacted when she touched her. She looked up and saw Jack and Ianto standing a little farther away, talking amongst themselves. She turned and whispered to Abby.

"You sit here for a moment. I'll be right back, okay?"

Abby nodded stiffly still staring at the coffee table in front of her. She slowly began to rock. Gwen got up and walked over to Jack as Ianto walked away over towards one of the computer workstations.

"How is she holding up?" Jack asked as Gwen approached.

"Its like she sort of checked out. She told me she recognized the room she was in with the Adept from a photograph she took. Its the inside of the clock tower of Cardiff Castle."

"Didn't they closed the clock tower for renovations?"

"The day after Abby took the picture." Gwen nodded. "When I asked her about what happened in the clock tower, she went silent. Hasn't said a word. What's going on with you?"

"Ianto has discovered something." He and Gwen walked over to where Ianto stood n front of a computer screen.

"The computer detected high levels of psychic energy within Abby. " Ianto typed on the keyboard and a picture of scales on the computer screen popped up.

"This is the level of psychic energy we got from Abby when she was admitted to hospital on the night of the attack." A picture of a graph scale showed up on the blue screen. A small spike popping up the left hand corner. "This was when we captured her. "The graph scale now showing its second highest spike towards the middle of the graph. "And here are the levels which they are at now and its growing. " The rising spike was now at its tallest at the end of the graph.

"Its building up in her." Gwen stated.

Ianto typed again on the keyboard, bringing up an other page on the screen. "I also hacked into the St. Helen's hospital records. They admitted three more people that are in catatonic states."

"What the hell is this alien up to?" Gwen asked out loud.

"The Adept said 'we need her.' He could be talking about the people in the catatonic state. There's a connection there with Abby but what?" Ianto said.

"There's one way to find out." said Jack.

Gwen turned to Jack. "What?"

"Drive to the hospital and take Abby to the last person who came in contact with the Adept. There could still be a psychic link between them. I'm going to check out the clock tower. "

"You really want to take her out like this?" asked Gwen.

"We have to do something before things start to get worse." Jack said as he walked to his office.

"Jack." Gwen called out, catching up to him. "How are we going to stop it from getting worse?"

"The mind probe." He threw out the suggestion as he went over behind his desk rummaging through the drawers for his wembly.

Gwen and Ianto looked at Jack incredulously.

"No way." Gwen refused.

"If we can reverse the way the mind probe worked, make a few little tweaks here and there, it should be enough to close the psychic doorway." explained Jack.

"Or it could actually kill her. The mind probe is a sensitive machine Jack. Tosh knew how to work it best. One wrong tweak and-"

"And her head will probably exploded and it won't be because of high blood pressure." Ianto quipped.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"We could use the psychic projector again." Ianto offered. "Maybe we can work something out to make it do the opposite."

"After what we just saw what it did to her? It could kill her, too." said Gwen.

"She could already be dying." Jack snapped as he slammed the drawer shut. " From what Ianto showed us, the amount of psychic energy in her is growing exponentially. No one is meant to handle that type of power. No one. We're running out of time and options and I don't know about you but I'm not curious to see what happens once she reaches a psychic overload so if you got another idea, I'm all ears."

Gwen stood in defeated silence. She had no idea what to do in order to help Abby safely as she possibly could to get her out this situation. Jack was right. They were running out of time and they have work with what they had in front of them. Gwen sighed and turned to look behind her where she left Abby at the couch only to find empty.

"Where's Abby?"

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Abby stared long and hard at the coffee table in front of her. She hadn't moved an inch after Gwen led her out of the medical lab.

She felt like she had been violated. It was the only way she could describe it. It felt horrible. Being taken over like that. To have no control, to be pushed away and be used like some sort of puppet by that thing. She fought back as hard as she could but it hurt and the Adept was too strong. She felt his strength. Not just his physical strength but mental as well. He felt old and powerful. Years and years of training and concentration flowed through him. His own psychic powers were a part of him like another body part. Something that was familiar to him. But she also sensed something different. He was dying.

She spoke quietly, her voice coming out in a husky whisper when she told Gwen about the room she saw in her vision while under the projection. She had gotten a better view of the room that she was projected in and remembered where she had seen the stained glass windows above the two balconies. The inside of the clock tower at Cardiff Castle where she had taken photos before the renovations. She immediately clammed up when Gwen asked her what happened when the Adept took over. There was no way she could put into words what she went through.

Abby flinched suddenly when she saw from the corner of her eye Gwen's hand moving up towards her. She didn't want to be touched. It hurt even more when there was contact. Just being near these people was hard enough in terms withstanding the emotions and visions that she experienced when she was near them. All except for Jack.

Abby nodded absently when she heard Gwen say something to her. She was too busy trying not to get lost in the world of other people as she slowly rocked herself. She barely blinked when Gwen stood up and walked over to Jack.

The visions and the voices were stronger than ever so that it was almost impossible to block them out. People's thoughts and feelings, the future and the past were filling her mind and she was trying her damndest to ignore them.

But the voices and visions kept piling up, one over the other. People were speaking so fast and at the same time, creating visions that flipped past through her mind at an ungodly speed. Some from the past and others of the future. Terrible things. It was getting worse. She couldn't hear... herself.

Abby turned to look at the Torchwood team who were deep in discussion about something. She watched at they moved away from the computer workstations and followed their immortal leader into an office. She felt a burning, prickling feeling from behind her eyes. They had no clue. No clue to what was going on in her occupied mind. She felt so detached and alienated from them. From the world. Like standing inside a house, looking out the window, watching as people go by without a care in the world to the suffering she was going through.

She tore her eyes away from them and glanced around the Hub in a panic. Everything in this place screamed out to her. Ripples of the past bounced back and echoes of the future resonated to her.

She felt herself grow more and more anxious. Her breathing kicked up a notch, her hands were sweating and her heart pounded. She could feel her chest tighten as she tried to suck in small gasps of air through half parted lips.

She wanted to leave. To get out. The place felt like it was growing smaller by the minute. The voices and visions zipped past her mind like a speeding car on a freeway. Every nerve in her body was jumping. She had to get out and away from this place. She breathed heavily feeling the same burning feeling in her throat now. She had to get away before she lost it.

Jumping silently to her feet, she went off in search of peace.

As she ran, she felt something inside her break.

------------------

This girl was good when it came to running away and hiding.

They searched everywhere for her. The holding cells, the conference room, Jack's upstairs office, the hothouse and nothing.

"I found her. She's in the morgue." Jack spoke into the ear com to the rest of his team. He quietly walked over to Abby where sat slumped against the wall, her cheek pressed lightly to the wooden doors of the freezers. She hummed softly to herself as her fingers stroked the wood with a gentle caress.

"I just wanted to find someplace quiet." her voice sounded hollow. She didn't bother to look up as Jack crouched down and sat across from her. "I looked everywhere and there wasn't anyplace expect the room with all the plants. That was a good place but it made me blush."

"So, you chose the place where we stash the dead bodies." Jack lifted a shoulder. "Good place as any for peace and quiet."

Abby shook her head. Her eyes filled and whispered tearfully. "But they still speak. Their memories... they still talk." Abby started giggling almost hystrically. "Dead man tell no tales, my ass."

"This one died bloody." she indicated to the small door where she lay her head against. " A big, ugly monster tore her apart. Weevils, right? She looked to Jack for confirmation. Jack simply stared.

Her hand reached over to the other door above her. "And this one. He worked for you a long time ago. He just took a gun to his head. Stained his brand new carpet. You got a few of those in here, you know?"

"They're getting louder, aren't they?"

Abby nodded wearily. "I'm tired. I'm so tired. Its like my brain won't shut off and I just want to sleep. "

Jack sat quietly.

"But you. You are so... still. Everyone else is moving. Always moving. A lot of noise and movement. From everything and everyone and they don't shut up." Abby covered her ears. "And the pounding. The knocking. Four knocks over and over again." Abby began muttering. "Song's ending soon, though. Song's going to end soon."

"Abby-" Jack began to say until Abby's hand quickly shot out and gripped Jack's wrist tightly.

"Jack's not your name." Her eyes settled somewhere on the middle of Jack's chest. Her gaze was distant. "Captain Jack Harkness doesn't belong to you. " Abby looked up. "You took it."

Jack stared at Abby, waiting for her to continue to see how much of his past she knew.

"It's so different with you. It's almost peaceful." she said softly, closing her eyes briefly. A small smile broke out on her face. "There's something there, through. I can barely see it. I can hear it. Waves crashing. A beach and a little boy- " The lights in the morgue started flickering.

"All right, that's enough. Come on. " Jack lifted Abby to her feet.

"I can hear everyone." Abby started talking frantic. "Everyone. And I have to keep talking. I have to keep talking to hear my own voice. I need to hear my own voice because then I won't hear _me_. I won't be able to find _me_. Oh, God. Each thought and feeling is like glass ripping through my head. They won't. Shut. Up."

Abby gasped out in pain, clutching her head. Jack ducked as small pieces of glass from the light hanging above exploded with a series of loud pops. The sound of muffled rattling coming from the wall of wooden doors came to his ears. The metal slabs of bodies in the morgue were shaking in the drawers.

"Abby, calm down."

"Shoot me!"

"Abby-"

"You don't understand, I'm seeing things! I know how it all ends!" Abby gasped. "This place will be reduced to nothing. I've seen how everyone dies. My best friend Dave. Gwen, Ianto, even you! I've seen things that are going to happen and that did happened. How you all lived and how good you people are. Everyone dies young here."

Her face crumbled with pain.

"It's all melting together and I can't take it anymore! Its too much. I don't want to see anymore. Don't make me see anymore." Abby cried. The rattling was getting more intense. Any moment, dead bodies were about to shoot out through those doors.

"Abby, listen to me. You need to calm down."

"I want you to shoot me. Please!" she pleaded.

Jack stared at Abby, loss for words.

"I am begging you to shoot me!" her breath hitched in panting sobs.

Jack grabbed Abby by her arms, forcing her to face him.

"Listen to me. No one is going to die today. We are going to help you get through this all right? I promise. I promise you that we will do whatever we can to help you."

Abby leaned towards Jack, her hazel eyes shiny from unshed tears that stared deeply back at Jack.

"Things are going to get much, much worse."

**TBC**


	9. Not the Only One

**Author Notes: **_Y__eah. I suck. I know. I'm a slow updater. Now, having confirmed that, I give you chapter 9. :D_

**Disclaimer: **_Apparently, RTD and the writers do not negotiate with crazed Torchwood fans so, there is no chance that I will own the characters, EVER. Therefore I am planning a kidnapping attempt on Jack, Ianto, and Gwen. Who's with me? Don't forget. Two out of three ain't bad._

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**Chapter 9: Not the Only One**

Gwen could feel Abby's voice mumble quietly into her shoulder through the sleeve of her jacket. They walked side by side, Gwen holding Abby close, down the hospital corridor.

Abby finally allowed herself to be touched. She was beyond caring now. There was too many things going on in her mind from everyone and everything to feel an extra person in her head. She rambled on and on, about anything and everything. She made sure that her voice was heard above all others. Gwen felt the growing tension within Abby as her voice raised in volume.

"She didn't turn left. Need to go left. Not right. Fire in the sky to the right. No doctor to fix..."

Gwen shushed Abby and gently rubbed her shoulder in the hope she could coax her to quiet down. Abby had been making random remarks, none of which made any sense except to Abby and to whatever was going on inside her head. It broke Gwen's heart to see this young girl suffer some internal torment. She sighed loudly.

Abby had lost it completely earlier during the car drive on the way to the hospital. Jack and Ianto were in the car ahead of them.

Abby sat unmoving and silent just like she had been in the Hub. She sat in the passenger seat staring straight ahead at the road in front of them, still humming a quiet tune. Gwen glanced over to Abby a few times as she drove. The stillness from Abby unnerved her. She reached over and turned on the car radio flipping through the stations until she found some music to fill in the silence. Her fingers stopped the search when she heard a familiar pop song blasting through the speakers. Gwen noticed from the corner of her eye that Abby recoiled back into her seat.

"Abby? You all right?" Gwen asked in concern. Abby said nothing and stared at the radio, eyes wide as saucers. Her breathing came in too quick and fast, close to hyperventilating. Gwen was getting worried. Abby looked downright terrified.

"Abby, what is it?"

It was until the chorus of the song that had Abby yelling in fear.

_'Here come the drums, here comes the drums... Baby, baby, baby! You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child... " _

Abby grabbed her head in pain as the music rose in volume. She writhed helplessly like a snake in her seat, shouting.

"No! Its ripping open! T-tearing. The sky is tearing! The rain. S-shiny rain with teeth. Killing everyone! 6 billion rain... killing!"

Abby was thrashing so much Gwen had no choice but to pull the car over to calm her down. She sat doubled over, her head almost touching her knees. Gwen pulled Abby towards her burying her in a hug, shushing quietly into Abby's hair. Jack's voice crackled through the ear comm.

"Gwen, is everything all right?"

"Yeah. We're fine. Abby just had a little episode. We're okay."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just turned on the radio and Abby freaked out when a song came on. She way saying the sky was being ripped open. Not a fan of the Rouge Traders, I guess. " Gwen chuckled to herself. "Have to admit. Voodoo Child does get on my nerves."

The coms were quiet for a moment until she heard Jack replied grimly. "I never did like that song either."

They finally made it to the hospital without any problems from Abby after that. Abby retreated back into herself, muttering softly and cradling her head in her hands.

Gwen heard the muted whimper come from Abby when they reached the room where they kept the catatonic people. Ianto was already there waiting for them after Jack dropped him off. He smiled briefly when he saw them walk into the room.

"How are they?" Gwen asked, her eyes raked over the beds. Abby's eyes peeked out from where she was pressed against Gwen's shoulder and cast a wary glance around the room.

"The nurse had just been in here. There's hasn't been any change from them." He indicated to the eight beds occupied by the unmoving victims.

Abby looked up at the sound of Ianto's voice. "You breathed the air."

"Uh, yeah." he said, confused. "Force of habit."

Abby's eyes shifted to the floor and shook her head. "Don't breath the air." She said, sadly. "You'll never wake up."

Her focus went back to one of the beds. She slowly broke away from Gwen and walked towards to one of the male occupants that lay staring up at the ceiling, hardly moving a muscle as Abby leaned over him. A quizzical expression broke out on her face.

"Trapped. Trapped... in boxes. Jesus, I don't know what I'm saying." Abby looked confused as if she was struggling to make sense of what she was trying to say.

"You mean, they're still in here?" she heard Ianto ask.

"Trapped." she repeated with a terse nod. "Like the cells. The plastic cells. Oh, God." Her eyes flicked up and scanned about the room.

"They're screaming."

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Jack zoomed through the streets of Cardiff, blissfully happy that neither of his colleges weren't with him, white-knuckling in their seats as the SUV dangerously dodged cars left and right. He quickly dropped Ianto off at the hospital car lot and sped away over to Cardiff Castle.

He never even slowed down when he jumped out of the SUV and ran into the castle. Jogging double time up the stairs and into the pitch back room from Abby's vision. He walked in with his flashlight ready, ignoring the signs of construction warnings.

Jack swept the single beam of light across the darken room as he walked in. The light momentarily catching decorative swirling design across the floor. The room was deathly silent. Had it been anyone else walking in here, they would think they were alone but Jack knew better. He flew up the flashlight up to the surrounding balcony, the golden railing's glittering back at him as he slowly turned in place. He wasn't alone. He could feel it.

He carefully and quietly pulled out his webley from the inside of his coat. The silence of the room broke as he pulled back the hammer of his gun, clicking the bullet into place. Ready to fire.

He stood quiet. His eyes searched around with his arms raised, holding the gun along with the light. His entire focus was in the room. Getting in tune with the sounds, smells and textures of the environment. Waiting for anyone or anything to jump out.

His eyes, a century worth of experience caught a strange shape at one corner of the room as his flashlight skimmed over it.

He took slow and calculating steps towards the weird shape on the floor, the beam of light and his gun leading the way. As he got closer, his stomach dropped when he realized that the strange shape he was looking at turned out to be a jean covered leg with a black converse sneaker attached.

The flashlight traveled up past the shin, the wore torn hole on the knee, up to the chest and into the face of a young teenage boy who couldn't be more than 17 years old. His dark brown eyes stared unmoving in front of him, looking at everything and nothing.

Jack knelt down in front of the boy, tucking his Webely gun inside of his coat and shone the light on the his body, taking in at the state that the kid was in. He was thin looking. His clothes looked dirty and torn. His long dark wavy hair was covered in grime and looked like he hadn't showered in awhile. Everything about the kid screamed that he was homeless.

Though he recognized the look and state of someone with catatonia, he still reached over and felt for a pulse. He exhaled loudly when he felt a steady beat underneath his fingers. The kid was alive. Trapped in his own mind but alive.

Jack was taken by surprise at the sudden feeling of flying through the air and even more shocked when a wooden round table unexpectedly slammed against him. He fell down hard, hearing the table crack and break apart from his weight sending him crashing painfully to the floor. The flashlight clattered away from his hand as the light spun around and around passing over at the walls... and faces of other people in the same state as the homeless kid. More catatonic victims.

Jack lay there dazed for a second at the faces of the victims that sat slumped against the decorative walls. Their dead eyes stared helplessly back at him.

He snapped out of his daze when he felt strong hands lifting him up by the lapels of his coat forcing him to stand. He wasted in no time to start throwing punches. He grinned wickedly when he felt the satisfactory sound of flesh hitting flesh against his fist. He stumbled a bit when he felt that his punches were now hitting air.

He threw one last punch with his left hand until he felt a strong hand out of nowhere grabbing it in mid punch. He groaned loudly in pain as he felt the hand squeeze, crushing his fist and hearing the bones crack. He delivered a swift blow to the Adept's left side with his right hand and heard him left out a pained oof and felt the Adept release his fist.

He pushed the Adept away from him, his gun already drawn out aiming directly at the gray skinned alien. He gasped out loud when he felt an immense pain on his chest but instead of a fist connecting, he felt the same kind of pressure when Abby used her telekinetic power on him. This kind of force of power felt more like a speeding train colliding with him instead of a lorry.

He was flying again until his back erupted in burning pain as he slammed into the wall of the tower. The pressure on his chest held him in place. He was pinned to the wall. He grunted against the hold and watched with a heated gaze as the Adept walked up to him.

"Didn't I kill you?" He cocked his head to the side. His voice sounded rough and gravely.

"Maybe." Jack said as he let out a frustrated grunt at the failed attempt to move his arms. He barely budged. "Or maybe you just missed."

The Adept studied Jack intently. "Interesting. There's nothing." he quickly dismissed that thought. "I did warned you to back off. You refused to listen."

"Yeah, well, I'm stubborn that way."

"But I knew I would be expecting you."

"Oh, yeah? Did you expect to feel a sudden tingly sensation forming on your side? Any dizziness? Blurred vision?"

The Adept looked at Jack in confusion. He felt an involuntary shudder go through him. His vision swam and he tried to blink back the oncoming dizziness. He stumbled as he placed his gray shaking hand over the area where Jack delivered a blow to his side. The area ached and burned when he touched it. He took a step back before his legs quickly gave out from under him and fell to the floor. He blinked up owlishly as Jack loomed over him, now free from the telekinetic hold against the wall.

"What did you do to me?" The Adept asked breathlessly.

Jack held up a empty syringe that once contained the blue liquid enzyme. It was a full dose. Way more what Gwen had injected Abby with back at the Hub. He knelt down, pulling the Adept up roughly by his collar.

"Something to calm you down. Don't bother try using your powers. I gave you a full dose. " Jack immediately pulled out his pistol and aimed it directly against the side of the Adept's temple. "Now start talking."

----

Abby's head quickly snapped around, her eyes searching around for an unseen source.

"Someone's in here. With me." she whispered.

-----

"What are you doing here?" Jack demanded. "What did you do to those people?" He pointed over to the surrounding walls of catatonia victims. There had to be almost 20 more people.

"They're... keys. We need them." The Adept swallowed loudly against the dizziness.

"Who's we?" Jack asked.

"My people. They need to know where to come. These people are lighting the way for them. "

"Why? Why do you need them and Abby? What are you planning?"

The Adept went silent, eyes wide and glazed from the enzyme. He looked like he was trying hard to keep the room from spinning.

"Tell me!" Jack shouted. He pressed the muzzle of the gun harder to the Adept's temple, causing him to hiss in pain.

"We felt what was coming." he gasped out. "We saw signs. The stars in our skies were going out and it wasn't just in our world. It was all worlds. It's happening-"

----

"-Everywhere." Abby whispered to herself. She stared ahead, dazed. She seemed to be speaking with such clarity but the blank stare on her face suggested that she wasn't all there.

"Did you say something Abby?" Gwen asked as she cautiously approached her. Abby's eyes looked vacant. She was staring straight ahead at nothing, unblinking. Just like when they put her in the vaults in the Hub when she tried to look into Jack. But this time there was some calm and control in the trance. Almost as if she was no longer fighting against it. She was surrendering to it and right now, something was coming through.

---

"It needed us alive." the Adept exhaled. He shook his head from side to side as his icy pale blue eyes rolled back in their sockets.

"We didn't find out why it wanted us alive until it was too late. Too late to protect ourselves. We tried to block whatever was coming to our planet. A psychic force field with all of us tuning to our abilities at the same time but it was too much. Our collective minds and psychic energy caused a hole our atmosphere. Greater than your Ozone Layer. We were slowly killing ourselves as the radiation from our three suns rained down on our planet."

"That explains the bad tan you got on. So, you came here. Why?" Jack asked the alien.

"When we realized what we had done and saw what was coming to every known world in the Universe, we decided instead to transfer our subconsciousness. Me and three others were chosen to search for another world, a planet suitable for us. I searched until I found yours. "

A breathy chuckle escaped from the Adept's lips. "This planet is perfect for us. You have a Rift and your minds. Your brilliant minds. You people haven't even began to scratch the surface of your potential. Or the gifts that lie within you."

"Is that what you gave Abby? A gift? She's slowly losing her mind." Jack seethed.

"She is merely a doorway for us. The perfect doorway. I had to open her mind to let the rest of my people through."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean as soon as your rift opens in a few minutes time, she will let out a psychic EMP so to speak that will wipe out everyone's mental state. Knocking out every living being on this planet including her into a permanent coma. And then I will be able to transfer my people's subconsciousness into welcoming hosts on this planet. A chance to start over. To fight back against what is coming!"

"What is coming?"

"We don't know. We just know that it wants us. Its coming. The darkness-"

---

"-Is coming." Abby finished.

"Abby?"

She ignored Gwen as she slowly spun around in one place, her haunted hazel eyes taking in every inch of the hospital.

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" she asked suddenly, out loud.

Gwen and Ianto shared looks with one another and stood silent, confused by Abby's question. They followed Abby's gaze around the room, unable to see what she was seeing.

To Ianto and Gwen's eyes they could see nothing out of the ordinary in the hospital room as they watched Abby looked up and down at every corner of the room, the fear in her eyes growing by the second. Unbeknownst to them every sign, paper, machine, every word that was once a sentence in the room had changed into two clear, simple words that brought the feeling of dread wherever it went.

_Bad Wolf. _

Abby pivoted around and faced Gwen and Ianto. Fear poured out from her gaze as her eyes locked onto them. She didn't pay any attention as the lights in the room that started flickering. The machines and heart monitors connected to each catatonic patient were going haywire.

"I am."

The people in the beds suddenly let out a muffled groans, their bodies arching slightly off their beds. Each pair of eyes rolled up to the back their heads, the whites of their eyes showing underneath twitching eyelids.

Then the screaming began.

_TBC_

_

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I was totally kidding about the kidnapping attempt. _


	10. Seeing Red

**Author Notes: **_Whoo-hoo! Look at that! I've updated! lol I hope you are all still sticking around reading this fic. If you are, you rock. ;) And for those who haven't, thank you for trying me out anyway. ;) _

**Disclaimer: **_I own nothing of Torchwood or its characters. More's the pity. _

_Special thanks goes to my beta Tyllum for going over this chapter and dealing with my horrible grammar mistakes. You rock as well. ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Seeing Red.**

**----**

The sound of smothered moans of pain drew Jack's attention away from the Adept for a minute. The line of bodies against the wall of the clock tower arched and jerked sluggishly. Their eyes rolling to the back of their heads. Jack's head whipped back to the Adept.

"What's happening?"

A slight delirious laugh burst past the Adept lips. "They're coming. My people will be here soon."

Jack's face contorted in a hateful sneer at the Adept's calm explanation. "Your rift is opening, making way for my people to come through. Abby is their doorway. She will lead them to salvation and we will stop the coming darkness. I have seen what is coming. I have seen the devastation that is brings. The destruction. I have seen-"

The Adept fell to the floor from Jack's skillful and deadly hands with a dull thud as a sickening crack rang out, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. His alien blue eyes staring out, the light in them slowly dimmed, leaving them empty.

"Bet you didn't see that coming." Jack snide. He looked around helplessly at the victims of the Adept, unable to do anything to help them.

There is still time to stop this. He had to try.

Stuffing his webley pistol into the gun holster and quickly ran out, heading straight to the SUV.

-----

It was crowded in there.

Too much sound, too much thought. Too many voices and faces. Too many futures and pasts. Too much of everyone. There was no more room for Abby in her own mind. Two is company, 3 million's a crowd.

She's starting to forget the sound of her own voice. She decided to say whatever she sees or felt from others. The only way to keep afloat.

She had a momentary panic in Gwen's car on the way to the hospital. Music came to her ears and admist the overlapping voices came the images of teeth. Of rain. Blue sky ripping down the middle. Colors of red and destruction. The sounds of screams, horrifying panic swirling with the vibrant melody of promises and skies made of diamonds. Behind it all. The sound of drums that led the marches of death.

It was real and yet, not real. It happened but it didn't. It was Nemo. No one and everyone.

There was a jerk stop. Arms clothed around her. Wrapping her in a secure and short-lived safety, taking her away from the shiny rain of six billion blood soaked skies. Quiet words of comfort and feelings of warm pity filled her mind, quickly disappatening as it reached deeper into her mind. It was enough of a distraction from the sound of drums. She never understood what was being said but it was a change of scenery.

White walls. Long and echoey. Each door she passed was a timeline. Of someone's death or recovery. Of potential futures. She looked into herself and ignored the doors. She was quite full, thank you very much. The arms of protection and caring was still around her. She leaned into the touch, wisps of long dark hair tickling her nose and cheeks. Searching for the missing comfort and safety that was buried underneath the past and future.

They reached a door. A different door met with silence. Abby whimpered softly to herself in fear. Silence was new and unfamiliar. Something was wrong if there was silence.

Voices were being spoken outside but there was no recognition until one voice came clear through full of tears and regret. Of love and sorrow and an invisible poison air.

"You breathed the air." she said, not really hearing her own voice. The voice replied back. Half closed tear stained eyes, and a limp body cradled on a cold hard floor in the arms of a lifetime of love and secrets.

Her eyes shifted down, looking past everything. "Don't breathed the air." This was important to remember. Her head moved slowing side to side. "You'll never wake up."

It wasn't so crowded in the room.

Abby eyes went to one of the beds. She slowly pushed herself away from the arms of protection and care and went to the man that lay unmoving.

She looked, she listened and learned that it was sort of quiet in there. A familiar feeling of waking up in a certain jail cell. Pounding and pushing and begging to be let out.

"Trapped. Trapped... in boxes." She focused more, pushing back everything else. Her sight and hearing becoming clear and centered as she tried to keep the voices and everything else at bay. " Jesus, I don't know what I'm saying." Abby heard _Abby_ say.

"You mean, they're still in here?" the man, Ianto asked.

"Trapped." she said again with a quick nod. She went on trying her best to explain. "Like the cells. The plastic cells." There was sudden jolt in her mind. "Oh, God." she breathed. She looked up at around the room. It wasn't so silent anymore.

"They're screaming. "

She paced around the room, going from bed to bed, bending over in a panic. This was new.

"I don't..." she said, helplessly. Her head snapped around back and forth in desperation.

"Abby. Talk to me. What's happening?" She heard Gwen ask.

"They're screaming and I don't know why. " Abby cried. "I can't see..."

"We need to find out what they know, Abby. We need to know what the Adept is planning."

"The screams..." she whispered, eyes darting around the room.

"Ignore them, Abby." Gwen pleaded. "I'm sorry but we need to find out what this Adept wants with these people. Once we do then we can make it stop."

Abby nodded. "We can make it stop. We can make it stop.." she whispered to herself over and over again. She walked over a bed, occupied by a women. Her trembling hands gently placed on the women's forehead, half hiding to the dead stare look in her eyes with her palms.

She shifted past through the life of the women. Ignoring the laughter and smiles of her children and husband. The smells of dinners being cooked. Of clothes being mended. Page after page of homework and endless miles of errands. She knew nothing.

Abby moved on to the next one. And the next and the next. Nothing but images of these people lives and futures.

She was about to reach and look at another when she felt something like a tap on her mind.

She stopped and looked around, searching.

"Someone's here. With me. "

One clear voice spoke through her mind. Details of what he was planning and saying floated with such ease. She knew now why these people were chosen. Why they were left in such a state. They are roman candles. Lighting the way for the Adept's people to salvation. The salvation from what was coming.

_"We saw signs." _The voice said_. The stars in our skies were going out and it wasn't just in our world. It was all worlds. It's happening-"_

"-Everywhere." Abby whispered to herself. She stared ahead, dazed. She seemed to be speaking with such clarity but the blank stare on her face suggested that she wasn't all there.

"Did you say something Abby?" Gwen asked as she cautiously approached her. Abby's eyes looked vacant. She was staring straight ahead at nothing, unblinking. Just like when they put her in the vaults in the Hub when she tried to look into Jack. But this time there was some calm and control in the trance. Almost as if she was no longer fighting against it. She was surrendering to it and right now, something was coming through.

_"We don't know. We just know that it wants us. Its coming. The darkness-"_

"-Is coming." Abby finished.

"Abby?"

She ignored Gwen as she slowly spun around in one place, her haunted hazel eyes taking in every inch of the hospital.

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" she asked suddenly, out loud.

Gwen and Ianto looked confused by the question. They watched as Abby' looked around the hospital room, unable to see what she was seeing.

To them it was just an ordinary hospital with some not so ordinary patients. They could see nothing what Abby was seeing. The two simple words that traveled through time and space without the need of a machine.

_Bad Wolf._

Abby's eyes grew wide. Whatever she was seeing, it doesn't look good.

Abby turned swiftly and faced Gwen and Ianto. Her hazel eyes locked on to them. She ignored the flickering lights and the manic sound of the machines and heart monitors hooked up to each catatonic patient.

"I am."

Eight bodies arched away slightly of the beds, their eyes rolling up into their heads, showing only the whites of their twitching eyelids. They let out a smothered grunt of pain through closed lip mouths.

----

Abby fell to the floor, slamming down hard on her hands and knees. She breathed heavily, her eyes wide as saucers unable to blink. Gwen and Ianto rushed to her side.

"Abby, what's happening?" Ianto asked.

She said noting as she was unable to tear her gaze away from the floor. Gwen flicked her head up watching the catatonic people writhe helplessly in their beds. The machines connected to them going nuts.

Nurses and doctor came flooding into the rooms, completely bypassing Abby and Ianto sitting in the middle of the floor. Gwen got up to her feet and looked out at the ruckus happening outside the room. Phones were ringing off the hook, fax machines, copiers turned on and off by themselves. Things flying around. Abby was causing this.

She ran back to Abby's side. Ianto was holding her up. "Come on, we got to get here." She turned to Ianto, talking softly. "The entire hospital floor is going crazy. We've got to get her out of the building before she shuts the place down. She could cause a power outage, killing everyone who are on life support machines."

Ianto nodded, getting to his feet along with Abby. "We'll take her back to the Hub we'll figure something out there. What about them?" he indicated over his shoulder at the people in the beds.

"The doctors are taking care of them. Right now, Abby's our main concern. Abby, tell me what's happening." Gwen asked as they walked out of the room.

"I don't know. Something's happening. It's opening." she gasped with eyes wide in fear, fingers grasping frantically onto Ianto's sleeve jacket.

_"Gwen? Ianto?"_ Jack's voice came through the comm.

"Yeah, Jack. We're here." Gwen responded along with Ianto.

_"Has there been any activity from Rift?"_

"No. There's nothing. Jack, we're taking Abby back to the Hub. Something's happening to her. She's going haywire-"

_"No! There's no time. You need to find an empty room and wait for me there."_

"Why? What's going on Jack?" Ianto spoke up.

The handheld rift detector suddenly beeped as Abby let out a painful scream that dropped her to the floor, taking Ianto down with her. Rift activity. A huge rift energy spike.

Gwen heard Jack softly curse,_"The Adept is using Abby and the Rift to bring the entire race of his planet to here. Using her to wipe our everyone's conscious state as hosts for his people. Find an empty room and take Abby there now! I'll be there soon."_

Without a second thought, Gwen rushed over and helped Ianto with Abby to her feet.

Together, they helped Abby into the corridor and into an empty office nearby. Ianto helped Abby onto the empty sofa. Gwen muttered 'I'll be right back' in search of gurney.

Abby stiffened in Ianto's hold and let out a huge gasp. "Oh, god!"

Her eyes snapped opened revealing blood stained eyes. Ianto jerked back in fright. Tears of blood immediately began to trickles down her pale cheeks as she let out a god awful scream.

Eyes wide in shock, Ianto turned and yelled. "Gwen!"

The wheels squeaked and rattled along the hallway as Gwen pushed it through the empty room where Ianto waited with Abby.

Abby screamed harshly against the pain, a sort of primal howl as the pain seared through her brain.

They quickly lifted Abby from the sofa, flinching and grunting as Abby thrashed weakly against their hold and placed her on the gurney.

Abby felt strong hands grip her ankles and wrists, pinning her down to the table. She let out a painful scream. Their thoughts and feelings were like knives, each one stabbing into her mind.

"Stay away from me!"

Gwen and Ianto immediately flew back at the sudden force from Abby's telekinetic power.

"Don't touch me!" Abby cried out. "Make it stop! Please! It's too loud. Everything so loud!"

The alien had opened her mind to the entire world, leaving her connected to every living thing on the planet. It was all too much at once. Her mind wasn't able to filter any of it. Even though it has been said that humans possess dormant psychic abilities, some more than others, but this was like the Hoover Dam breaking apart. Every thought and emotions pouring into one human brain. Her senses were everywhere. She could see what happened and what would happen. It was chaos. There was no room for any coherent thought. The only thing that registered into Abby's mind was pain. All she could do was scream.

Everything around the room shook. It was a psychic earthquake happening. With each passing minute the pain in Abby grew, everything around shook with such intensity. Light blubs shattered into tiny pieces, debris flew across the room and hit the walls with forceful impact that left dents in the walls.

Jack came through the doorway, the Mind Probe in hand, startling Gwen who had been busy trying to help Abby as she twitched in Ianto's arms. Gwen looked up as Jack brushed past her.

"What are you doing with that?" Gwen pointed to the Mind Probe.

"I made a few modifications before we left. " Jack answered, handing over the device to Ianto.

"You mean, you were planning use that thing on her all along?"

"It's the only way to stop this!"

Jack stood above the shuddering girl and gripped the sides of Abby's face. Her bloody tears smeared the palms of his hands.

"Abby, look at me."

Abby's eyes were screwed shut as a few bloody tears leaked through from the corner her eyes, trickling down the side of her face and disappearing into her dark brown hair. Gasping sobs of pain came from her lips.

_"Abby!" _he mentally shouted. Abby's blood filled eyes snapped open in surprise, staring back at Jack with wonder. _"Focus on me."_

"I can't. It's so loud."she replied, sobbing."It's too loud. It hurts to much."

"I know it does but I need you to listen to me and my voice only. Abby!" he shouted when he saw her start to drift away. "I want you to try to clear your mind. Focus on anything you're familiar with. Can you do that for me?"

Abby shook her head in confusion. "I don't... I..."

"Try, Abby. Focus on one particular thing that means something to you. Can you do that?"

Abby shakily nodded yes.

"Get the mind probe started." Jack looked over at Ianto.

"No, Jack! There must be another way!" Gwen protested.

"We have no other choice! There's no time!" Jack argued back.

-----

All she could see was a red haze.

She looked through a thin veil of red as the flashes of images flipped through her mind like a picture book. It was happening so fast like a video being fast forwarded. Everything blurred and merged into one, reaching higher and higher and along with it came the pain.

Her eyes burned and throbbed. A sudden heat as the red seeped through her vision, covering the world in crimson light. She quickly closed them shut only to have the pain reach an unbelievably high level, shooting through her head. She felt something thick and warm travel down past her cheeks.

She couldn't think or breathe as the pain amplified. She could hear herself screaming, begging as hands gripped her tightly, pinning her down to the bed but she couldn't process of what was happening. All she knew that the touch brought on more pain.

Strong hands gripped her face tightly, the thick warm blood smudging against her face.

Jack's voice rang out clearly in her mind, drowning out the other voices and images. Abby's singed hazel eyes quickly opened in shock, her eyelashes clumped together in pointed teepees, staring up at Jack's clear blue eyes.

He spoke out loud but only one word read clearly in his eyes and his words. _Trust me._

All she could do was nod yes, closing her eyes in defeat.

There was movement around her. There was the quick shuffles of feet and urgently spoken words as the Torchwood team struggle to help save her.

A hard cold metal headpiece was placed on her head. The tears of blood continue to seep past her eyes.

She sobbed and cried out at the images in her head. The desperate voices that wanted to be saved. They wanted a second chance to live again. Abby now knew who the voices were. People of an ancient race, that lived peacefully and happily until the darkness came.

She felt for these people. Her heart went out to them but not like this. Not at the expense of risking the lives of everyone on this planet.

The machine switched on and Abby bucked against the sharp pain arching her back off from the gurney, as she screamed in agony.

Jack hovered over the machine typing quickly, staring intently at the screen. His eyes flicked back and forth to Abby, trying hard not to focus on the screams. His full attention was on the task at hand. The hairs on his arms stood on end as the energy in the air changed, thicken and buzzed. It was working. He could see from his peripheral vision, Gwen and Ianto shuffling around nervously, jerking ever so often at the flying hospital equipment that went pass them.

Sharp hospital instruments and papers flew around the place. The beds and tables rattled and scraped across the floor, some almost going airborne and hit the wall with a cracked thud.

The machine dug deeper and deeper trying to make its way to the doorway until it finally reached its destination.

"Jack! Turn it off!' Ianto yelled as he ducked away from a flying scalpel.

"Its not working, Jack!" Gwen shouted. "Shut it off! You'll kill her!"

"We're almost there!" Jack yelled back. The mind probe reading 98 percent. 99...

Abby's eyes snapped open and let out an ear-spliting blood curdling scream.

Her body levitated completely off the table, her legs and arms hung limply by her side as if she was being hung by an invisible rope around her waist. Her hair flowing softly in the air.

Everything around them stopped. There was an eerie silence throughout the room like someone had pushed the mute button. Papers, hospital equipment, and debris floated in the air with a ghostly grace.

Gwen stared in awe, "Jack...?"

He was about to respond when they suddenly flew backwards, yelping out in surprise when they landed on the floor with a hard thud as a light blue shock wave and a thundering noise like a contained sonic boom erupted from Abby.

Abby landed on the gurney motionless with a loud thud, her arms dangling lifelessly on the sides.

Gwen was the first to recover from being thrown clear across the room. She sat up gingerly, swiping away the papers and junk that landed softly on her. She winced at the throb on her back where she landed. She glanced around the room, her eyes sweeping past where Ianto and Jack lay until they settled on Abby.

She stood on wobbly legs, almost tripping as she made her way over to the gurney where Abby lay unmoving.

"Jack. Jack!" she called out as she reached the gurney. Her hands brushed gently over the still body, whispering her name to wake up. She carefully lifted one eyelid, dried blood crusted around her eyelashes. The red no longer coated her dull hazel eyes.

Gwen bent over, her ear hovering over Abby's mouth. There was no breath. Her fingers pressed against underneath Abby's neck. No pulse. She heard Jack walk up quickly beside her.

"She's not breathing. There's no pulse." she announced, adjusting Abby's head, tilting it back as she started to perform CPR.

Jack and Ianto hung back, watching as Gwen tried to bring life back into the young girl.

"Come on, Abby." she whispered frantically as she breathed into her mouth. "Come _on. _Don't do this."

Gwen's fingers intertwained, pushing down gently but firmly over Abby's chest, pushing her heart to start working again. Two puffs of breath pass through Abby's lips.

"Abby, don't do this!"

Abby's body jerked with each compression causing the gurney to squeak and bounced slightly. Gwen gave two more puffs.

"Damn it, Abby." Gwen could feel the sob rising from her chest. She wiped her eyes furiously.

"Gwen-" Jack began to speak.

"No! We're not gonna lose her! " she leant forward, grabbing Abby's shoulders, shaking her limp body.

"Breathe, Abby." Gwen went back to doing chest compressions. "Breathe for me. Come on, sweetheart. Come on, breathe."

The only sound in the room was the gurney bed rattling and Gwen's suppressed tears as the chest compressions went on and on. Nothing was happening. She was not waking up. She was not breathing and there still is no pulse. Gwen let out a quiet heart breaking sob.

"Oh, God, Abby. _Breathe!_"

Abby suddenly jerked violently and let out a huge gasp of air with racking coughs. Gwen immediately gathered Abby in her arms, sitting her up, gently rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"You're okay. You're alright now." Gwen whispered over and over.

Abby leaned against Gwen, gripping around her shoulder, shuddering with each each coughing breath, which jolting her throbbing and pounding head. She felt like she was in a fog, floating through space. She slowly cracked her eyes open, her skin pulling at her cheeks from the trails dried blood. She blinked a few times, her eyes aching against the bright light in the room until the two figures standing in front of her, both wearing worried expressions on their faces that melted into relief, came into focus.

She closed her eyes shut, feeling all the sudden heavy and tired. She mumbled something indistinctly into Gwen's arm.

"What did you say?" Gwen asked.

Abby licked her lips. Her voice was low and rough but the sound of relief spoke through.

"It's finally quiet."

TBC

* * *

_The song is ending soon. And so is this fic. ;) _


	11. Souvenirs

**Author Notes: **_Just wanted to post this. I couldn't wait. :D_

_

* * *

  
_

**Chapter 11: Souvenirs**

The camera was out of focus.

All she could see through the lens of her camera was the blur of the day settling into night, leaving the sky with a mixture of colors of red, purple, and dark blue. The sun was just disappearing into the bay, golden light shimmering on the surface of its water and with a few twists of her fingers the picture became more clear. With a click, she froze the image forever.

Abby lowered the camera and let it dangle from her neck. She leaned against the rail of the pier, looking out towards the bay. Looking beyond the water. The sea breeze blew through her long dark brown hair, flowing it back.

She tugged her jacket closer to her against the sharp, cold sea air. She sighed loudly as her eyes traveled upwards. Nothing was ever gonna be the same ever again. Not even the night sky. She had gotten a glimpse into a world that she was in no way prepared for. A world that no one was ready for. She had a chance to erase everything that happened the past week. Jack came up to her after being revived by Gwen, holding a small white pill that could've easily been mistaken for an aspirin. He held the small pill between his thumb and index finger, claiming that the simple pill was blissful ignorance. It could make her forget everything that had happened to her during her time in Cardiff, erasing all her memories of Torchwood and the Adept.

Abby shivered. She was already experiencing some memory loss of what she saw when she had the psychic powers. Her mind had been already violated by the alien so the thought of one's life being rubbed out of exsistance made Abby cringe. She quickly refused and said that her head had been messed with enough.

"So, you enjoyed your stay?"

Abby jumped at the sound of Jack's voice as he walked up beside Abby, leaning over the rail as well. She laughed breathlessly and smiled.

"Well, the cultrual shock hit me pretty hard with all the aliens but as soon as I saw a McDonalds, it felt like I was back home. "

"Maybe we should start printing t-shirts. Put something on the front like, 'I was attack by an alien in Cardiff and all I got was this stupid t-shirt.' "

"Oh, those would definitely sell." Abby joked.

Jack laughed softly. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Fine. I'm good. No more psychic visions or hearing people's thoughts if that's what you're asking. All quiet on the western front, thank God. As much fun it was be Jean Grey for a week, I'm so glad to be rid of it."

"I don't know." Jack said, thoughtfully. "I could think of a couple of fun things to do with that." he winked.

Jack and Abby laughed quietly. His smile faded a little when he noticed a nervous look on Abby's face.

"Something wrong?"

"No. No, everything's fine."

"Something's bothering you."

Abby hesitated. "Things didn't make sense after I woke up. I know I saw things. What happened in the past and... what will happen in the future. " Abby paused. "I don't remember much of it, just bits of pieces. It all happened so fast. Its so confusing when I try to remember but... "

"What?" Jack promted.

"There are these... feelings that won't go away."

"What kind of feelings?"

"I don't know. Like this... 'calm before the storm' feeling. Something's coming. Something big. This bad wolf at grandma's door. A song that will be ending soon and four knocks. The best way I can describe it is.... darkness." Abby scoffed. " I know. Its sounds like a total clichè but I don't know what it all means. It means something, I know it does."

Jack looked down at the water below him, his eyes shifted evasively[b](not sure if this is the right word to describe what Jack is feeling. He has been told about the oncoming darkness and he's trying not sound so worried or like its bothering him. I know there is a word for it. I bet its some simple that I haven't thought of. lol. )[/b]"Wish I knew too."

Both stood silent for a moment, trying to process the information they have just learned when Abby spoke up.

"There's more. I felt it. It's gonna be bad. It's gonna be very hard and very scary for you, me, everyone. And I'm afraid," Abby took a deep breath.

"I'm so afraid because I don't know the end result. Its like its just out of my reach. Everytime I try to go forward to grab it, the farther away it slips from me. I just know that people are going to need you. I know it. I feel it. The whole world will need you when that day comes and I don't know. I guess knowing that you guys are here, I might sleep a little better tonight." She smiled sadly.

They stood quietly for a moment, listening to the water rush up against the pier. The silence between them was broken when Abby spoke up. She looked down at her watch.

"I better get back to my hotel. Got a plane to catch tomorrow morning."

Jack nodded. "Have a safe trip. Oh! Before you go, Ianto wanted me to give you these." he reached inside his coat, pulling out a couple of postcards she had bought at the Tourist Center and her camera's memory card. The one filled with the pictures she had taken before the attack, she noted as he handed it over to her. Abby smiled.

"Souvenirs. Although we had to get rid some of the undisclosed pictures that you took of the Adept in the alleyway and of me and Gwen at the Water Tower." Jack grinned.

Abby let out a quiet huff of laughter. She never did figure out how they suddenly appeared at the Water Tower.

"Tell Gwen and Ianto thank you for helping me." She looked at Jack dead square in his eyes. "Thank you for saving my life."

Jack's heart warmed and he was touched by her comment. His eyes soften a bit and he nodded stiffly. It wasn't everyday that they get thanked.

Abby pushed away from the rail, stopping after a few steps to look over her shoulder and gave Jack small smile and a short wave goodbye. She turned and walked away. Jack watched as she turned the corner and walked out of sight. He stayed there for a long moment, but knew she was gone. With a small smiled he turned towards the water tower and headed back to his team.

----

"Stupid... _uhh_, suitcase... friggin' zipper."

The bed bounced slightly when Abby wriggled a little more, grunting in frustration at the suitcase where she sat on top of at the moment, trying with all her might to pull the zipper closed. She didn't remember having this much trouble before leaving for Cardiff back home.

She stole a quick look at the clock on the wall near her bed and swore under her breath. Goddamnit. She was gonna miss her flight.

"Come on, you stupid piece of..." She punched the side showing her annoyance and dominance at the stubborn luggage, eliciting a quiet 'ow' when she felt one of her fingers hit a sharp edge of the zipper. Frowning, she stuck the stinging finger in her mouth. She shifted again her seat and with one last hard tug, she finally got it close. Abby grinned proudly. She showed who was the boss.

She leapt up from on top of her suitcase and looked around her hotel room.

Everything seemed to be packed up and ready to go. Everything doubled checked to make sure she had everything with her.

_Plane ticket? Check._

_Her carry-ons? Check._

_Suitcase?_ Abby glared at the bulky lump on her bed. _Check._

Feeling satisfied that she had everything she needed, Abby gathered up her things and headed to the door.

She suddenly stopped halfway out the door. Her cellphone. She quickly patted herself down, checking her pockets when she remembered that she left her cell phone on the coffee table. She turned and looked across the hotel room at the small black cell phone that sat idling on the small brown table, staring intently at it.

She slowly raised her hand uncertain at first but quickly lifted it up, her palm reaching out.

She felt a small pressure being built up from behind her eyes followed by a warm, tingling sensation that seemed to travel up from her head and down her fingertips.

Abby watched with some sort of fascination and confirmation in her eyes as her phone hovered weightlessly in the air and float across the room with the greatest of ease and settled neatly in the palm of her hand.

Her fingers closed around the small black object, squeezing it with a tight squeak and stuffed it inside her pocket.

Gathering up her things once again, she walked out and closed the door behind her, heading for the elevators.

Her taxi was waiting downstairs.

TBC

* * *

_Just one more chapter, the epilogue and that's it! ;)_


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_**Los Angeles. 3 months later.**_

_Buzzz!_

_" ... see a bad times today. Don't go around tonight. Well, its bound to take your life. There's a bad moon on the rise. Don't go around tonight. Well, it's bound to take your life, there's a bad moon-"_

The clock radio besides Abby's bedside table shut off with a small click as Abby withdrew her slender fingers away from the snooze button. She lay comfortably on her bed on top of the covers, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

She was already awake long before the radio turned on bringing about the Credence Clearwater Revival song of dire warning. If that wasn't some sort of an omen, Abby didn't know what was.

She had simply woken up hours ago. Not from a nightmare nor from a sound from somewhere in the apartment. It was a feeling. A deep, gut instinct that made the hairs on the back of Abby's neck stand on end. She felt she should be bracing herself for some sort of deep impact that was about to fall on her.

Ever since her trip to Cardiff, Abby had come back as a different young woman. Being a doorway for a dying alien race that was going to come through a rift through time and space would change anyone's perspective on the world. Being psychic on the other hand, took some getting used to. Though she had lied to Jack about everything being back to normal for her, Abby had to admit that it was both a blessing and a curse.

She discovered once she got back home that she had some low level telekinetic powers that only seemed limited to moving smaller objects like a cup or a chair. She barely made Dave's car budge outside the apartment building and it gave her migraine when she pushed too much. Dave gave her an odd look when he saw her standing in front of his car with an concentrated look on her face. He muttered a quiet 'must be a chick thing.' as he got in his car and drove away to work.

Abby also learned that she was able to sense or feel things before they happened or that had just happened and if the energy was strong enough, sometimes she could get a glimpse of an image of a certain event.

She looked over at her clock radio. The red neon numbers glowed back at her in the dark bedroom. It read 4:09am. She calmly sat up from her bed.

It was almost time.

-----

The entire apartment building rattled on its foundations, waking and jolting people completely off of their beds. As fierce as it was, it was still Los Angeles and earthquakes are something to be expected in southern california.

Dave rushed over to Abby's bedroom door, dressed in a t-shirt and boxers, dazed from waking up covered with his things on top of him and winding up on the floor of his bedroom instead of his bed.

He practically pounded Abby's door as he called out her name, worry etched on his face. Hearing no response, he entered sticking his head inside. He saw the bedside lamp was on the floor, the light shone through the top of the shade lighting the lower bottom wall.

"Abby? You alright?" he entered further in, his brow crinkled in confusion at the sight before him.

All of Abby's things were on the floor but not knocked over as they would be after an earthquake. As if they was placed there on purpose. Safe from falling and being broken.

"Abby." Dave called out. He jumped when he heard Abby's phone suddenly rang from the floor beside her bed.

He slowly walked over, reached down and picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

_"Come outside."_ Abby's voice came through the other side.

"Where are you?"

_"I'm up on the roof. Get dressed and come up."_

"Why? What are you doing up there?" he asked.

_"You're not gonna believe this."_ Dave could practically hear the grin on Abby's face. He placed the phone back on its receiver when the dial tone came on. He turned and ran to get dressed.

-----

Dave poked his head out from the roof door and spotted Abby standing near the edge of the apartment building. Her head was bent over her hands, fiddling around with something. Her black bag lay next to her feet. He stepped through the roof door entrance when his eyes took noticed of the sky. A very crowded sky. His mouth gaped open and eyes wide as saucers.

"Oh my...." he gasped softly.

"Its great, isn't it?" Abby said over her shoulder. Dave looked at Abby's form in shock and back to the planet filled sky.

"What..?"

"Three months ago, I wouldn't have give the night sky a second thought. Stars and planets. Big whoop. Now, ever since then I never looked at them the same way again." she stopped for a minute to adjust whatever was in her hand before speaking again.

"It's not our nine planets. There's way too many of them. I don't see Saturn or Jupiter anywhere so, I'm guessing these are from another galaxy." Abby shot an amused look over her shoulder and shrugged. "Been doing some reading."

She turned and snapped her head up, her camera poised over her face, shooting up at the night sky. She chuckled.

" I bet NASA is going crazy over this."

Dave stared at her in shock. Ever since she came back from the U.K. three months ago, Abby was different. He just didn't know how different.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Dave asked walking towards Abby.

"In a way but... yep."

"You knew and all those times when you were acting so weird... You're psychic, aren't you?"

"Yep." She took another picture.

Dave stood silent for a moment and stared at Abby's back. He watched as she kept fiddling around with her camera. The noise on the streets below grew more and more louder and restless. People dazed from being thrown around in their homes finally took noticed at the sky. It was the sound of panic and fear.

"Okay." Dave said after a long pause. "So, now what?"

Abby lowered her camera and turned to face Dave. She walked slowly over to him, her camera hanging from the strap in her hand. She stopped right in front of him and placed her hand on his left shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"You're going to turn around, go inside and switch on the fire alarm. Try to get everyone in the building down into the basement." Abby spoke seriously.

"What?"

"They'll be safe down there. Trust me. Tell them to take some blankets, food, water, whatever they need because we're gonna be down there for a while. At least, a few hours. "

"Why?"

"Because something bad is coming. Something big but don't worry." a small smile broke out on Abby's face. "Right now, there's help coming."

"Oh," Dave said quietly.

" 'Oh' what?"

"Well, I meant... what now between us?"

"Oh!" Abby said, surprised. "Well, you're cool with it, right? Me being psychic and stuff? I mean, you're not freaked out by it?"

"No! I don't have a problem with it. I mean, I had my suspicsions that something was off about you ever since you came back from Wales. I wasn't expecting 'pyschic'" Dave chuckled softly, grinning. "But its fine with me. Totally. " His eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey! You can help me by telling me which girls are totally into me."

"What! No." Abby exclaimed.

"Oh, come on! It would mean a lot to me. You would be doing me a huge favor! We can hit some clubs and-"

Abby raised her hand up. "David. No. I am not helping you scope out potential lays, okay?"

"This is a perfect opportunity! Do you have any idea how many guys would kill to do what you can do?"

"I dread to think." Abby deadpanned.

"Abby." Dave whined.

"Dave." Abby mocked. She suddenly went rigid. She glanced back up at the night sky, looking beyond the planet filed sky. A horrible feeling came over her that practically made her sick to her stomach. She fell to her knees.

"What? What is it?" Dave asked, suddenly afraid when he saw the look on Abby's face.

Abby stared up at the sky in horror. She closed her eyes briefly, her feelings reaching out. A horrible, inhuman voice filled her head.

_"Exterminate! Exterminate!..." _

Abby's eyes snapped open with a frighten gasp. "Oh, God."

"Abby, what is it?"

"Get inside and hit the fire alarm. Now!" Abby yelled when Dave didn't move. He quickly ran inside, the roof door enterance swung closed with a loud slam. Moments later, Abby heard the muffled shrill sound of the fire alarm being activated, her eyes never leaving the sky.

This was it. Her thoughts immediately went to Cardiff. Torchwood were gonna have their hands full today but she wasn't worried. In fact, she didn't feel afraid because she knew that they wouldn't be alone. There were others out there who would band together and help. The children of time and... a doctor. She smiled to herself. Dave's hurried footsteps stopped next to her as she looked up at him.

"Abby. What is going on?"

Abby opened her mouth to speak when she noticed Dave's eyes widen in shock.

"What the hell is that?"

It was something like out of a science fiction movie only very real and very big. The sky was filled along with huge saucers, firing blue lasers beams at the buildings and people in the street. Fire and destruction crumbling down everywhere. People screamed and ran away in fear. Pandomonium erupted all over the city.

Abby stood and grabbed Dave by his arm and dragged him back inside the building.

"The bad wolf breaking down grandma's door."

The End.

* * *

_Thank you guys for hanging in there and going along for the ride in my fic. I hoped you were entertained. Let me know what you thought of my fic. ;)_

_Coming up next is a short one-shot fic that sort of picks up after this fic and takes place during Jack's six month travel after the 456 of CoE, called "Of All the Gin Joints In the World." and I am also in the process of planning another fic that involves Torchwood and the Boogeyman. That's all I got so far with that fic. Torchwood and the Boogeyman. lol _


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